A new Planning Bill was published last week by the Government. The main objective of the new law is to speed up the planning process for major infrastructure projects – new roads, airports, nuclear power stations etc. While it is true that any major project has a lot of hurdles to overcome, the new arrangements load the dice very heavily in favour of the developer. Under the Bill, the main features are:
- The Government will publish ‘National Policy Statements’ setting out the major infrastructure projects it wants to see.
- A new Infrastructure Planning Commission will be set up to decide on all infrastructure projects. The members of the Commission will be appointed by the Government.
- The normal planning process will not apply. Instead of seeking planning permission and a range of other consents that are currently needed, only one consent will be needed – from the Infrastructure Planning Commission and this will not only give planning consent but can give consent for other related issues – e.g. compulsory acquisition of land for the development
- In reaching a decision, the IPC has to decide the application in accordance with the National Policy Statement. It also has to consider other factors such as whether the application would breach EU directives or any other law or if the adverse impact would outweigh the benefits.
- The IPC will usually hold a hearing for interested parties and examine the evidence for and against the application.
The net result is likely to mean the Government will be able to push through any major development that they want to see: since the IPC will consist of individuals selected by the Government and they have to decide on applications primarily in accordance with Government policy as set out in a National Policy Statement, there will be little scope for objective criteria being applied and the existing cadre of qualified planning inspectors will be by-passed.
It is a sad irony that just when Governments should be reducing CO2 emissions, the British Government is paving the way for a procedure that is designed to allow major developments in roads, power stations and airports – no doubt beginning with a third runway at Heathrow.
It is not without relevance that the White Paper which is the basis for the new Bill was written by Rod Eddington, former CEO of British Airways, and contained a number of references to the long process that took place before Terminal 5 at Heathrow was given the go ahead. And the Government is currently ‘consulting’ on a third runway aimed at doubling the volume of air traffic at Heathrow.
To read the Bill you can go to http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2007-08/planning.html
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