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- New climate change duty and parliamentary scrutiny to strengthen Planning Bill
New climate change duty and parliamentary scrutiny to strengthen Planning Bill
| Published | 4 November 2008 |
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New amendments to the Government's Planning Bill have been laid in Parliament to strengthen the scrutiny of national policy statements by the House of Lords, and tackle climate change.
The changes provide a key new role for peers in scrutinising all national policy statements including those for aviation, nuclear power and renewable energy, and there is now a legal duty on the face of the Bill for National Policy Statements to show how they will mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The Planning Bill is crucial to tackling the two biggest issues the country faces today - ensuring our economy is resilient in the tough competitive global climate and delivering new green infrastructure vital for the leap to an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
Throughout the Bills' parliamentary passage Ministers have listened to constructive ideas to get the Bill right. Latest improvements to the Bill will ensure that:
- There will be an explicit climate change duty on the face of the Bill. National Policy Statements and regional plans will now have to show how they mitigate and adapt to climate change - and Government must explain how it does this to parliament.
- A Lords Committee will now have a key role reviewing and scrutinising National Policy Statements, increasing Parliamentary scrutiny of draft statements by both Housest.
- Confirmation of inquiry procedures, will ensure that the Infrastructure Planning Commission can where appropriate invite cross-examination of witnesses to help with evidence gathering whilst still ensuring that local voices are not drowned out by powerful lawyers.
Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears said:
"With climate change now firmly implanted in this bill it really will deliver, in a more democratic system, the low carbon economy we need to move to.
"We have improved the Bill at each stage and listened to constructive ideas from MPs and Peers.
"The Planning Bill will give local people three chances to have their say instead of just the one now, decisions will take less than a year, and save our economy up to £300m each year by preventing unnecessary delays. That is why I'm urging all sides of the House to back the Bill."
Government figures also show that enough renewable energy to power one and a half million homes, equivalent to three cities the size of Sheffield, or every home in Birmingham, is currently clogged up in the planning system.
Without this Bill a bureaucratic and slow planning system will continue to stall many vital infrastructure projects. For too long people's fuel bills have been overly dependent on fluctuations in the price of oil and imported gas which is why more British based green energy is needed now to increase energy supply and security.
One third of Britain's electricity generating capacity needs replacing, but currently only 5 per cent (or 5 Giga Watts) of our electricity comes from renewable sources.
During tough economic times we need a quicker, more predictable and fairer planning service that can deliver new clean energy supplies, public transport and clean water, as well as new jobs in the green economy
Planning Bill Minister, John Healey added:
"In the tough climate we face the economic case for this Bill is stronger than ever before. We simply can't create a modern and greener economy using a post war planning system.
"The planning bill is the key to unlocking the modern green economy and subsequent new jobs and that is why business backs it.
"This green energy will help hard working families already worried about high fuel bills who have been hit by dramatic fluctuations in oil or imported gas prices. We need British based green energy now. It is time to let this Bill deliver for the country."
Notes to editors
1. The current planning system for major infrastructure projects is not working. It took six long years to approve an essential upgrade to the North Yorkshire power line. The wind farm at Fullabrook Down to power 24,000 homes took three years. BAA's application to build Heathrow T5 is the most famous example - 37 different applications under 7 different Acts meant the Heathrow T5 inquiry took more than 7 years.
2. The Planning Bill will transform eight bureaucratic regimes into one streamlined system that can make fair decisions in under a year saving the country up to £300m a year.
3. The Bill will create National Policy Statements (NPSs) - strategic blueprints for replacing our aging and overloaded infrastructure. Democratically elected Ministers will set out through political debate the national direction of our energy, transport, water and waste requirements upfront instead of trying to figure out individual proposals and strategic infrastructure needs one case at a time.
4. Ministers will have to ensure NPSs balance local concerns with the needs of the country because they will undergo thorough public consultation and rigorous Parliamentary scrutiny. They also already have a duty to sustainable development when preparing NPSs.
5. The Bill creates a new independent Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) - working within the framework set by Government with Parliamentary scrutiny - to determine the detailed and technical merits of individual applications. The Commission will be free to reject projects it considers do not match the NPS framework, or whose adverse impacts outweigh the benefits. Experts are the people who really understand the complexities of specific proposals, so it is right that we use them in this way.
6. The new system also protects the right to be heard and puts the public at the centre of the process with three chances to have their say. First, they can have a direct say on National Policy Statements. Second, developers must consult local communities before an application which must be verified by the independent Commission. Third, communities will have a stronger voice at a more open process of public examination. Anyone who registers can give oral evidence. Third party Cross examination only benefits those with the deepest pockets. In these difficult economic times it is vital for the public and business that we cut those bloated legal costs.
7. Government figures show enough renewable energy capacity to power a total of 2655.2 Megawatts enough electricity to power 1.68 million homes is clogged up in the system in England and Wales and could be decided by quickly and more fairly under the Planning Bill measures.
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