Archived press release

Plans for Major Incinerator to Replace St Paul's Cathedral

9 July 2007

An application to build an incinerator on the site of St Paul's Cathedral in London is being delivered to the Corporation of London's Planning Office today (9th July). The application is being made by Planning Disaster, a coalition of Britain's leading environment organisations which represents over 2 million people [1]. Its aim is to highlight how the public's right to have a say on major new developments is under threat from Government proposals to reform the planning system.

The current planning system allows people to have their say on proposals for major developments such as the construction of new incinerators. But, reforms to the system proposed in the Government's White Paper on planning will remove the public's democratic right to challenge projects at public inquiry. Planning decisions will also be taken out of the hands of accountable politicians and handed over to an unelected, unaccountable new body called the Infrastructure Planning Commission.

Planning Disaster is concerned that the changes will allow developers to push through major projects that could have a catastrophic impact on communities, the countryside and the wider environment.

The Coalition, whose members include, Airport Watch, CPRE, Friends of The Earth, nef, the Ramblers' Association, the RSPB, Transport 2000, The Wildlife Trusts, and The Woodland Trust are also publishing a list of major developments in England over which the public's right to have a say could be threatened. These include:

• Super-incinerators at Deptford in South East London and Colnbrook in Slough
• Up to ten nuclear power plants around the UK including reactors at Sizewell in Suffolk, Calderhall in Cumbria and Hartlepool
• Airport expansions at Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, East Midlands, Heathrow and Stansted,
• Major road schemes including a bypass between Hastings and Bexhill in the South East, M6 widening between Staffordshire and Cheshire, and a new road bridge across the Mersey.

The coalition has also published a joint statement `Making Planning Better', which sets out how the Planning White Paper should deliver sustainable development - that is, economic and social development which respects environmental limits. [3].

Owen Espley, Coordinator, Planning Disaster, said;

"Today, the public can still have the right to object to barmy planning applications which could damage our environment or our communities - such as the application we made to build an incinerator on the site of St Paul's Cathedral. If the Planning White Paper goes ahead in its current form, the public will effectively lose their right to a say. The Government needs to rethink and introduce a planning system which allows people an effective say in how their area is developed."

"We are asking people to act now at www.planningdisaster.co.uk or lose their voice on what happens in their area".

The Planning Coalition has made it easy for the public to make their voice heard in the Government consultation. All they need to do is send the Government an email via www.planningdisaster.co.uk. The deadline is 17^th August.

Notes

Photographs from the photo shoot will be available for download from Monday at: www.planningdisaster.org.uk/stpauls.html

[1] Members of The Planning Disaster Coalition include: Airport Watch, Council for National Parks CPRE, Friends of the Earth, The Grasslands Trust, nef (the new economics foundation), The Ramblers' Association, Restore UK, RSPB, Transport 2000, UKRIGS, The Wildlife Trusts, and The Woodland Trust.

[2] The list of developments can be viewed at:
www.foe.co.uk/resource/local/planning/planning_disaster/list.html

[3] The Government's white paper "Planning For a Sustainable Future: White Paper" is available at www.communities.gov.uk . Deadline for public consultations is 17th August. `Making Planning Better' can be downloaded at www.planningdisaster.co.uk/makingplanningbetter.html

The Planning Application will be withdrawn from the Corporation on Tuesday. The police, Corporation of London and the St Paul's are aware of our application.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust