The Planning White Paper, with the highly misleading title "Planning for a Sustainable Future", was published in May. This sets out the Government's intention to transfer power over decisions about "major infrastructure projects" - nuclear power stations, airport expansion, road-building, reservoirs, incinerators, etc - to an Infrastructure Planning Commission, accountable only to the Government. This will weaken the power of local authorities, and therefore local people, over planning in their areas. A Planning Bill based on these highly controversial proposals is expected in November.

POLICY NEWS

"The Regional Future" THE PLANNING BILL

A new Planning Bill is expected to be published in November, setting out in legal form the policy proposals in the Planning White Paper ("Planning for a Sustainable Future"), which was published in May.

The Government intends to establish a new body, the Infrastructure Planning Commission, working with Government. The Government will publish a series of "National Planning Statements", stating its assessment of the "need" for "major infrastructure projects" (MIPs), such as new nuclear power stations, new airport runways, new roads, reservoirs, incinerators, and so on. The wording of the White Paper makes it clear these assessments will be on a "predict and provide" basis - e.g. project forward on a graph the number of air flights, work out how many runways will therefore be "needed", and then build enough to meet the future level of demand. This approach has already been discredited - in great detail - in roads policy, where the evidence shows that extra infrastructure provision simply generates extra traffic, so the new roads are quickly filled up by new cars, leaving congestion just as bad as it was before.

The Government's "statements of need" will then be handed over to the Infrastructure Planning Commission, which will make decisions about where in particular all these new "MIPs" will go. These decisions will therefore be completely taken out of the hands of local authorities, creating a new "priority" category of planning applications.

Neither the National Planning Statements nor the decisions of the Infrastructure Planning Commission will be subject to Parliamentary vote or the possibility of amendment. The Government propose that Parliament will scrutinise them - i.e. ask questions, write reports, make recommendations - but does not intend that it should have any power over them once the

(8) The Planning White Paper, with the highly misleading title "Planning for a Sustainable Future", was published in May. This sets out the Government's intention to transfer power over decisions about "major infrastructure projects" - nuclear power stations, airport expansion, road-building, reservoirs, incinerators, etc - to an Infrastructure Planning Commission, accountable only to the Government. This will weaken the power of local authorities, and therefore local people, over planning in their areas. A Planning Bill based on these highly controversial proposals is expected in Novemb POLICY NEWS

THE PLANNING BILL

A new Planning Bill is expected to be published in November, setting out in legal form the policy proposals in the Planning White Paper ("Planning for a Sustainable Future"), which was published in May.

The Government intends to establish a new body, the Infrastructure Planning Commission, working with Government. The Government will publish a series of "National Planning Statements", stating its assessment of the "need" for "major infrastructure projects" (MIPs), such as new nuclear power stations, new airport runways, new roads, reservoirs, incinerators, and so on. The wording of the White Paper makes it clear these assessments will be on a "predict and provide" basis - e.g. project forward on a graph the number of air flights, work out how many runways will therefore be "needed", and then build enough to meet the future level of demand. This approach has already been discredited - in great detail - in roads policy, where the evidence shows that extra infrastructure provision simply generates extra traffic, so the new roads are quickly filled up by new cars, leaving congestion just as bad as it was before. The Government's "statements of need" will then be handed over to the Infrastructure Planning Commission, which will make decisions about where in particular all these new "MIPs" will go. These decisions will therefore be completely taken out of the hands of local authorities, creating a new "priority" category of planning applications.

Neither the National Planning Statements nor the decisions of the Infrastructure Planning Commission will be subject to Parliamentary vote or the possibility of amendment. The Government propose that Parliament will scrutinise them - i.e. ask questions, write reports, make recommendations - but does not intend that it should have any power over them once the Planning Bill becomes law.

The proposals in the White Paper (which apply to England, and hardly at all to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) have led to a hostile response in the recent consultation process, and problems within government too, where there are departmental programmes for "strengthening the role of local authorities as place-shapers", increasing citizen participation in local decision-making, and sustainable development. The Government is having a hard time even getting the Bill drafted - and an even harder time is expected as it tries to take it through Parliament.

The Planning Bill is the outcome of a series of studies Gordon Brown commissioned when he was at the Treasury, all based on the Treasury view that economic growth is far more important than anything like environmental sustainability, quality of life, or local democracy. Along with the "Sub-National Review" (see next item) it represents a major attack on all things "green".

With the publication of the Planning Bill following the Queen's Speech in November, Gordon Brown will be taking on the environment NGOs and the millions of people who support them. The outcome of that trial of strength will be a major determinant of Brown's approach to the environment and democracy during the rest of his time as Prime Minister. NGOs have formed a coalition to fight the proposals: www.planningdisaster.co.uk

Miriam Kennet and our man in Westminster September 2007