Archived press release

Royal commission criticises planning reforms

21 March 2002

Friends of the Earth today called on the Government to drop plans to reduce public access to the planning system, after heavy criticism of the proposals in a report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.

Hugh Ellis, planning campaigner for Friends of the Earth said:
“This report is a slap in the face to Lord Falconer and to Government plans to overhaul the planning system. The proposed changes are unpopular, undemocratic and will be highly destructive. It's time for the Government to think again and come up with proposals that give local people and their environment the protection they need.”

The report, Environmental Planning, examines the way the current planning system provides for the protection and enhancement of our environment, and coincides with controversial plans by the Government to overhaul the planning system.

The report raises concerns about Government plans to fast-track the planning system for major projects such as airports, roads, ports and nuclear power stations. These plans would mean that public inquiries would no longer be held into such controversial projects. Instead, initial approval would be given by Ministers, with Parliament making the key decisions,probably under a Party whip. Any local public inquiries held would not question the need for the development and only deal with local details.

The RCEP report recommends that “if under the government's proposals for major projects the inspector conducting the local inquiry concludes that the the local impacts of a proposed project would be unacceptable, he should be permitted to recommend that the approval in principle should be reconsidered.” (8.58)

RCEP also says that proposals for major infrastructure projects should always be put forward within the framework of carefully considered national policies. “As the government's proposals stand, however, there would be no formal safeguard to ensure that a satisfactory policy statement was available before parliamentary procedures started.” (8.48)

Parliament's ability to properly scrutinise whether projects should go-ahead was also questioned. “It is not clear to what extent that [proposals submitted to Parliament] would explore alternative locations, and there would be severe limitations on the depth in which Parliament itself could investigate such issues within the kind of timescale the government is envisaging. Several bodies that have studied this topic recently have concluded that there ought to be much more extensive scrutiny of a proposed major infrastructure project than Parliament would be likely to provide” (8.54).

. The Government proposes removing the right for people to have their objections to local development plans heard at a public inquiry, and other pro-development measures. Calls for a third party right of appeal have been ignored. The consultation period ended last week. RCEP says that Third Parties should have a right of appeal against planning applications.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust