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CAMPAIGNERS UNITE TO OPPOSE PLANNING REFORMS

04 Mar 2002

Three leading environmental organisations join forces today (Monday, 4 March) to launch a campaign against the Government's proposals for fundamental change to the land use planning system. They have taken out hard-hitting advertisements in national newspapers which condemn the Government's plans as 'disastrous'.

CPRE, Friends of the Earth and Transport 2000 are taking their campaign to the top. They are urging their supporters, and the public at large, to flood the Prime Minister with protest letters calling for a rethink.

The three, helped by Restore UK, have set up a special web site - www.planningdisaster.co.uk - and a planning disaster telephone hotline - in order to help inform people about the proposed shake-up of the planning system.

They claim that the reform amounts to a major attack on the right of local people and their elected councillors to have their say about the future of their local environment. They see the proposals as a major advance for centralisation, and believe Government has paid far more attention to the voice of big business than the voices of communities and environmental groups.

The campaign is being launched exactly a fortnight before formal consultation closes on the Government's Planning Green Paper.

Kate Parminter, CPRE's Director, says: 'Good planning is the unsung hero of environmental protection - it can help to preserve precious countryside and wildlife, encourage urban regeneration and restrain road traffic growth. It's where local people can have their say about the future of their environment. These proposals represent a further weakening of local democracy; they would erode public trust in the planning system.'

Charles Secrett, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, said: 'Government proposals to fast-track the planning system are bad for democracy and bad for the environment. If they go-ahead people's right to object to projects that damage their community will be severely reduced. We need a planning system that is more open to people, not one that shuts them out.'

Stephen Joseph, Director of Transport 2000, said: 'At a time when the roads lobby and regional government in many areas are calling for investment in roads and a major new trunk roads programme is a distinct possibility, the right of people to have their say on development proposals must be protected. Otherwise England will end up like Los Angeles with tarmac over everything.'

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