Dyson Says Planning is 'A Blight on Progress'

"Dyson had pledged to invest £12.5 million of his foundation's money in the cancelled school. He had already spent four years and £3.5 million on securing planning permission for the Wilkinson Eyre-designed project."

"I'm appalled when it comes to the planning system,' he says. 'Funnily enough, I didn't mind the fact that it took us four years, because that's the democratic process and everyone had their say, and [planning] was passed.

'What seems odd is that it then got bogged down, and they called a public inquiry. The inquiry would have been utterly pointless, a waste of time, a waste of money, a waste of everything. It's not the third runway at Heathrow, it's a school.'"