In your back yard?
JEREMY CORBYN explains what the planning law shake-up is really all about.
ON Monday, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Ruth Kelly announced major changes to the planning system in Britain.
Her opening gambit was to gather around her the glow of the successful and seminal 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, which helped to create national parks and protect the green belt around all major cities. It was one of many very progressive pieces of legislation passed by the post-war Labour government.
The speech came a day after a number of Sunday papers had explained how the new laws will remove the need for permission for minor extensions, loft conversions and small developments.
After her brief flirtation with the past, Kelly's statement then switched into populist mode by stating the obvious - that the current planning system for major developments is heavily tilted in favour of the rich and powerful against the less well resourced and informed.
Ask anyone who has attempted to oppose a major road scheme, power station or railway development or anyone who has opposed an out-of-town shopping centre what it is like to stand up against corporate lawyers when fighting for your community.
However, after we had got over the mood music, the real story became apparent.
Kelly's proposal is to establish a national planning commission which will make decisions on major projects and will be wholly independent in its functioning. It will only be accountable to Parliament for its "performance."
Rather disturbingly, the white paper quotes the delays over terminal five at Heathrow, the north Yorkshire power line upgrade and Dibden Bay container port as examples which faced very long delays and exhaustive public inquiries before a decision could be made.
The department seems to be assuming that long delays and inquiries are automatically a bad thing. While nobody wants the blight associated with big projects, it seems that there is a clear danger here of going too far the other way and simply rubber-stamping huge projects, whatever the effect on local communities. The less well resourced will lose out to corporate interests.
In building up to the new proposals, the white paper quotes Kate Barker and Rod Eddington.
Barker is the author of the Treasury report on Housing Needs and Land Use Planning. In her report, she called for quicker planning decisions, less appeals and less regulation.
In his report, former British Airways chief executive Eddington calls for ministers to set national policy frameworks and said that there should be a "presumption in favour of development of major infrastructure proposals." He also suggests the establishment of an independent planning commission and calls for local consultations to be carried out by the applicant.
The government proposes that the new system would be for ministers to set national objectives in terms of energy needs, transport, housing, major infrastructure and urban development.
These would then be approved by Parliament. After that, the new commission would take over and approach each proposal with a "presumption to approve."
The whole thing is presented as a radical change which improves efficiency, but the truth is rather different.
Later today, the government will produce a white paper on Energy Needs in the Future.
The white paper is expected to plan for new nuclear power stations in addition to big renewable projects. Indeed, there is talk of reviving the whole Severn Barrage scheme, although any proposals are a long way off.
'The whole thing is presented as a radical change which improves efficiency. The truth is rather different.'
The immediate issue is a hugely controversial one - nuclear power. Despite claims that it is environmentally friendly and efficient, nuclear waste cannot be disposed of or treated, only stored, where it will remain live and dangerous for centuries to come. The cost of power generation is high and the cost of decommissioning redundant plants is even higher.
In effect, the public has paid the bill for much of the development and most of the decommissioning. In no sense is is financially sustainable.
Additionally, without nuclear power stations, there would be no possibility of production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.
There is a real danger of new nuclear power stations being forced through under the new planning system.
Ministers would propose to Parliament that we have targets for nuclear energy, the whips of all parties would force the vote through and we would then have a national framework for the decision.
After that, the local community around the planned site would be on the back foot. The presumption to approve and the national framework would overwhelm them.
Equally seriously, the role of anyone who wanted to challenge the nuclear programme or its effects on the environment, danger to everyone or sustainability would simply be ruled out of order as the inquiry's function would be to speed up the process.
I questioned Kelly on the dangers of the loss of any democratic accountability in this process. She replied that ministers have to act in a quasi-judicial manner at the moment and that her plans would encourage debate.
The fear is that we are heading in direction where planning is removed from any accountability at all, a journey into a world of experts, corporate lawyers and the judiciary.
It is not the purpose of elected representatives in local government, regional government and Parliament to hand powers over to unelected and unaccountable bodies.
I fear that the proposed planning system will, indeed, make decision-making more "efficient" - but at the expense of the least well off and least represented in our society.
Don't mourn, organise WELL done John McDonnell for nine months of campaigning all over the country and for raising the voices of those who want to see a real debate about Labour's future.
Shame on those MPs whose refusal to nominate John has denied party members and trade unionists the right to vote in the leadership election.
Following the result, John sent out a message, in the words of Joe Hill, "Don't mourn, organise."
The Labour Representation Committee will be holding a conference in October.
Those who care about Labour's future should be there. Details can be found at www.l-r-c.org.uk
Jeremy Corbyn is Labour MP for Islington North. He can be contacted at corbynj@parliament.uk
