Home > Press releases > Planning proposals riddled with flaws
30 May 2008
In response to Local Government Minister John Healey's announcement yesterday (Thursday 29 May 2008) on the Planning Reform Bill, Friends of the Earth's planning advisor Hugh Ellis said:
'The changes John Healey has announced still don't address the fact that the Government's proposals could see major planning projects pushed through the system without proper democratic input.
'Planning decisions about major projects such as power stations, roads and airports must be democratically accountable and give people a meaningful voice to raise any concerns.
'Ministers must have a serious rethink about community involvement in these major decisions, before the public becomes even further isolated from the planning system.
'Climate change is the biggest challenge we face - decisions about planning must be taken in a way that helps us move to a low carbon economy rather than making the situation worse.'
Friends of the Earth is campaigning for MPs to vote for three key amendments to the planning reform bill when it goes to the House of Commons for debate on 2 June. The environmental campaigning group is calling for the bill to ensure local people have a meaningful right to make their views heard about decisions affecting their area, in person rather than in writing.
It believes that the planning bill should ensure climate change is considered when making decisions regarding major infrastructure projects, which include roads, ports and power stations. Decisions about these major infrastructure projects should be taken by a democratically accountable body of elected representatives.
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For further information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.
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