End to IPC a step towards more democratic planning, but still further to go say CPRE

Following the Government's announcement confirming that the Infrastructure Planning Commission will be abolished, Fiona Howie, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Head of Planning, says:

"This announcement will be seen as a victory for local people who will no longer fear the threat of unelected bureaucrats forcing through unwanted development. Decisions on major infrastructure projects will in future by taken by Ministers. This is something we have been calling for since the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) was first proposed.

"We recognise the importance of planning decisions being determined in a timely fashion. However, we want to ensure that the 'fast-track' process results in effective decision making, taking account of all the relevant evidence and allowing local communities to feed in their views. The need for speed must not compromise the quality of planning decisions.

"We now want the Government to go further and confirm their proposals to balance the rights of appeal and allow local communities the right to appeal against questionable planning decisions, a right that currently only developers enjoy."

Fiona Cowan
7 July 2010

Website Link: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/third_party_rights_summary.pdf