<b>John Stewart finds a commitment to meeting housing need is missing from the government's call for a radical overhaul of the planning system </b><br>Last month I highlighted two possible approaches the government might take to planning reform in the forthcoming Green Paper. In McKinsey's influential 1998 productivity study, having identified planning regulations as a major obstacle to productivity improvements, it was argued that &amp;"piecemeal reform will prove inadequate&amp;". Alternatively, a 1998 report on business attitudes to planning for the DETR concluded there was a need &amp;"for improvements but not radical change&amp;". <p></p><p>Even before August's <i>HouseBuilder</i> had left the printer, Stephen Byers, secretary of state for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, had given us his unequivocal answer. In a speech on 26th July &amp;"to launch a debate about the planning system&amp;", he said the Green Paper &amp;"will not just be about the mechanics of the system. Our present planning system is now over 50 years old. It needs a radical overhaul&amp;". </p><p>Later in his speech, Mr Byers said &amp;"if the system is broke - and quite a few people seem to think it is - then we have got to fix it.&amp;" </p><p>Those who doubt the government's commitment to fundamental …