Queen's Speech 2006: Planning for Climate Change?

10 November 2006

1. CPRE [1] looks forward to the inclusion of a Climate Change Bill in the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday 15 November but fears that the Government will launch a fresh attack on the planning system at the same time – possibly with a new Planning Bill.[2]

2. We welcome new long-term targets for the reduction of global warming emissions and actions to address climate change which are promised for the Bill. And we look forward to the publication of the Draft Planning Policy Statement on Climate Change for consultation in December. The Government should promote patterns of development which reduce our energy needs, so the emissions associated with all proposed development must be considered. The planning system needs to be given a strong role in reducing our consumption of fossil fuels, in protecting the countryside and wider environment from dispersed, land hungry, traffic-generating development and in engaging the public in the decision-making process. We strongly support planning for low-carbon development, such as compact communities making better use of previously developed, brownfield land.

3. However, the whole principle of land use planning in the public interest is under attack at a time when its importance has never been greater.

4. Sir Nicholas Stern’s Review on the Economics of Climate Change states that planning has an important role to play in moving towards a less energy-intensive society.[3] CPRE is alarmed by the prospect of weakening the planning system to facilitate developments that conflict with climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as protection of the countryside. The Prime Minister has promised another overhaul of planning when the changes made in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 [4] are only just coming fully into effect.

5. In addition, the Treasury-sponsored Barker review, due out next month, and other Government reviews appear to be considering how planning restrictions can be diluted to make development easier.[5]

6. Making it much easier for major developments to obtain planning permission will not deliver the cuts to climate changing emissions needed to avoid dangerous climate change. If the Government is serious about climate change, it must get serious – and be positive – about planning. Weakening the planning system will make it possible for environmentally damaging developments to be pushed through quickly, exacerbating the problems associated with climate change and other environmental issues such as water shortages and loss of tranquil areas. It will also reduce accountability and democracy in decision-making.

7. CPRE understands that Government believes that major infrastructure projects, such as new airports, power stations, etc, should be decided on by an independent commission rather than by the current process of public inquiry followed by ministerial decision. But procedures to speed up the public inquiry process for major infrastructure projects were only introduced in August 2005 [6] and have yet to be used. The case for further reforms is unproven. Any changes to the decision making process for major projects that short-circuit the planning process and silence the public’s voice will result in bad decisions and undermine public confidence in decision making. This could lead to additional time being spent on judicial challenges to decisions or dealing with public protest against unpopular developments.

8. CPRE considers a far-sighted, well-resourced planning system, focused on taking decisions in the long term public interest, to be essential. So, too, are the highest possible standards for energy efficiency in designing and building new development, to secure more sustainable low-carbon patterns of development. Integrating economic growth with policies to reduce carbon emissions will provide huge opportunities for improving the quality of life and the experience of the environment for everyone.

9. We urge the Government to realise the synergies between low-carbon development, protection of the countryside and democratic participation in decision-making by means of a strong planning system.

NOTES FOR EDITORS
 
1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Sir Max Hastings. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen.

2.  Speaking at the CBI North East annual dinner on 26 October the Prime Minister promised ‘one major future piece of legislation will be a bill to significantly simplify the planning system in this country’ and described the planning system as outdated and ‘hopelessly bureaucratic’ (CBI News Release 27/10/06 – Prime Minister Pledges to Overhaul Planning Laws at CBI North East Annual Dinner. CBI news release 27/10/06.

3.  The Stern Review Report describes climate change as ‘the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen’ and argues that planning has an important role to play in moving towards a less energy-intensive society while balancing a range of social and economic objectives.

4.  The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act received Royal Assent on 13 May 2004 after a seventeen-month passage through the Houses of Parliament.  The Act amends the existing Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991. The aim of the 2004 Act is to simplify and speed up the plan-making process, increase the predictability, speed and efficiency of the planning application process, and open up and modernise the compulsory purchase and compensation processes to speed up major infrastructure and regeneration projects. The implementation and effectiveness of the 2004 Act are under review as part of a three year monitoring programme which is not yet complete (House of Lords Written Answers HL7816, Baroness Andrews). To announce a new Planning Bill so soon after the 2004 Act came into effect is, in the words of the RTPI secretary-general ‘either an extraordinary admission (of failure) or an extravagant promise’.

5.  The Department for Transport’s Eddington Review may recommend less public say over major infrastructure projects such as new roads and airports. Changes resulting from The Energy Review, such as the proposed Policy Framework for New Nuclear Build, will also restrict the public’s say on new energy infrastructure and we fear that forthcoming changes to housing policy are likely to make it easier to build on greenfield sites, which will increase car use regardless of the energy efficiency of the roads themselves. 

6.  The Town and Country Planning (Major Infrastructure Project Inquiries Procedure) (England) Rules 2005 No. 2115. ODPM 2005.