A new quango that could completely by-pass local councils and give the go-ahead for large and small developments without any public consultation has been condemned as the start of the end of planning democracy.
The chairman of Protect Kent is dismayed at the level of power government has handed the Infrastructure Planning Commission.
Richard Knox-Johnston said: “I don’t think people fully understand just what this could mean. It is an enormous amount of power and really is a major loss of democracy.
“Planning inquiries will be a thing of the past, which means they can push through all sorts of controversial and inappropriate projects and no-one will be able to do a thing about it.”
Experts say the IPC could threaten listed buildings and the green belt.
The commission can make and enforce decisions on "major infrastructure projects".
These could include wind farms and nuclear power stations, plus it could remove Green Belt protection and allow developers to seize private land.
Councils and residents would be all but helpless to do anything to influence planning decisions. A road scheme in Kent is said to be among one of the first project the IPC is looking at.
Its chairman Sir Michael Pitt has defended its power saying it will streamline the current way planning consents are acquired.
He said: "The country needs a more effective means of decision making on national infrastructure."
A new policy promises to reduce the number of applications for planning permission that have previously been rejected on heritage-related grounds, which will alarm organisations which strive to protect historic Britain.
Mr Knox-Johnston said: “I have been attending a public inquiry into the Kent International Gateway at Bearsted.
“When the Infrastructure Planning Committee starts work, such inquiries will be a thing of the past.
“No longer would local people have a say in large planning applications.
“Apart from objecting as individuals, they will not be able to be represented by their local councils or the KCC in any of these large development applications.
“In other words democracy at every level would be lost with an unelected, unrepresentative, unconnected and uncaring body making decisions on planning applications that could result in large areas of beautiful countryside being lost.
“KIG is 270 acres of green land that is adjacent to land defined as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
“The similar suggestion for Borough Green is on Green Belt land part of which is an AONB. There is an application for an international airport at Lydd which would greatly affect the RSPB reserve at Dungeness. All these applications could take place without any opportunity for local people, who would be most affected, to be involved.
“If we are to protect our beautiful countryside in Kent and continue to enjoy local democracy, we need to see that this IPC is dissolved as soon as possible. “Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have pledged themselves to repeal the act.”
And Martin Willey, president of the Royal Town Planning Institute, is also dismayed. He said: "This could prove to be a charter for people who want to knock buildings down.
“This new guidance assumes that heritage stands in the way of development and economic recovery, which is patently untrue. Historic buildings and places are an asset, not a burden."
The Department for Communities and Local Government said it would still listen to local concerns.
POSTED: 08/11/2009 13:00:00
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