Can you please all of the people all of the time? Any of you who have tried to build an extension or alter your house will know what a planning minefield it can be.

Imagine, then, what it is like building something on a far larger scale - Terminal 5 at Heathrow; the upgrading of the West Coast main line; and closer to home, the Rotherwas Access Road and Edgar Street Grid. What many of us have to go through pales into insignificance in comparison.

This is why we welcome some changes to the planning system proposed in the government's White Paper. It includes setting up an independent planning commission, whose role is to produce a stronger, clearer inquiry system.

It would comprise local experts, including planners, environmentalists, lawyers and community experts to take decisions on key projects.

This will be a good thing as long as it is done in the right way. For example, it shouldn't become simply another layer or another talking shop. If the plans go ahead as the government wishes, then it will have teeth to take decisions.

Why is it needed? Well, for example, a major road or junction improvement project can take up to eight years from the decision being made to work actually starting.

In that time, the world has moved on and the traffic levels or patterns would have altered. Another reason is that, sometimes, those who shout loudest have a disproportionate affect on the outcome - the NIMBY effect.

So hopefully this commission, if it goes ahead, can successfully balance the needs of different groups with those of a social, environmental and economic nature.

While it won't be able to please all of the people all of the time, hopefully more people will be pleased more of the time.

Meanwhile, thank you to everyone who has submitted their entry for the sixth annual Chamber Business Awards.

We've received a superb spread of entries and the quality is fantastic. We have received entries from different sectors and sizes of business, from sole traders to multi-nationals.

This local quality is backed up by personal experience, having been to some very well attended networking events in the county over recent weeks.

Herefordshire is well represented across all categories, so I'm looking forward to reporting some worthy winners next month.

Of course if you're a business and you have entered or want to meet other businesspeople, you can always come along and book a table to enjoy the awards night itself, on June 21, in Worcester.