Cornwall

PLANNING BILL: TIME FOR MPS TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is calling on MPs to reject the loss of democratic accountability in key planning decisions in today's (Wednesday, June 25th) consideration of the Planning Bill in the House of Commons.

A key vote is expected to take place giving decision-making powers on the biggest kinds of development such as new power stations and airports to a new Infrastructure Planning Commission.  Currently, these decisions are taken by elected politicians.

CPRE fears that allowing a new quango to make such decisions will remove democratic accountability and control over the most important planning decisions. As part of a coalition of organisations, CPRE is calling on Parliament to vote for Ministers to continue to have ultimate responsibility for such decision making.

Paul Miner, CPRE's Senior Planning Campaigner, said:

‘This is crunch time for planning in this country.  Airport expansion and new power stations are huge matters of public concern. If Ministers are serious about moving towards a greener future and more prudent use of resources, they should take the hard decisions that this involves.  MPs must stand up and be counted, and use their votes to make sure that we continue to have democratic accountability in our biggest planning decisions.'

NOTE:

The planning coalition brings together a broad cross-section of organisations, including CPRE, The National Trust, Friends of the Earth, RSPB and Civic Trust, which between them have the support of more than 5 million people. The coalition has come together to express its serious concerns that the Government's Planning Bill will be damaging for the environment and will reduce the involvement of ordinary people and communities in the decision-making process on major projects. For more information on the coalition, visit http://www.planningdisaster.co.uk/.