Planning through a narrow lens

1 October 2012

The Government wants to fast-track a new planning bill, due to come out this October.

This would speed up decisions on thousands of applications in England.

The Government thinks these changes will solve our economic woes by removing local democratic powers over planning decisions.

Proposed changes

The proposed changes to the planning system could result in:

• Loss of democratic decision making
  Shifting decision making powers on key developments from local councils to central government.
• Weakening of our ability to tackle climate change
  Relaxing national building standards, making it harder to ensure high-quality and low-carbon future developments.
• Our voice being heard less in planning applications.

The Secretary of State calls this "muscular localism".

Friends of the Earth believes these proposals undermine democracy, community voices, and action on climate change.

We need a fair and democratic plan-led system that helps tackle the huge challenges of climate change.

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