PLANNING WHITE PAPER
The Government’s major overhaul of the planning system could result in the forcing through of reforms which will leave communities with no effective voice on how their area is developed.
Formal public inquiries would be abolished for major, nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) such as nuclear power stations, road schemes, wind farms and airport developments resulting in local people losing their current opportunities to scrutinise proposals and question those that propose the projects.
The Planning White Paper, which will be introduced to Parliament later this year, threatens to make a mockery of local democracy by stripping away your right to participate in major decisions about your area and threaten valuable landscapes, habitats, historic environments and local character.
Planning Disaster Coalition
Friends of the Peak District (CPRE) / CPRE South Yorkshire is part of a coalition of civic and environmental organisations – with over 5 million members – opposed to the Government’s planning reforms.
Take Action
Read the latest coalition news by visiting www.planningdisaster.co.uk. Explore the website and see the new map which highlights NSIPs in your area and get involved to save your right to stay involved in the future of your local countryside.
Write to your MP
It is vital that MPs are aware of the issues in the Planning White Paper before the Government puts forward the Planning Reform Bill later this year. You can use the briefing document to help you write to your MP.
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The long and winding road…
The Mottram Tintwistle public inquiry re-opened in early September only to immediately close following an announcement by The Highways Agency that they had made a serious error in their traffic modelling projections.
Around a 4 mile section of the A616T between Midhopestones and Stocksbridge was left out of the traffic model through a coding error. This meant that the road was shorter than it should be in the model, hence the journey times were shorter than expected. Correction of the model for this error will mean that journey times will go up and the economic benefits of minutes saved by drivers will come down and reduce the value for money of the bypass. However for some reason 2,000 vehicles per day are lost without trace from the A616. We await a full explanation.
The error has serious consequences for the inquiry. All the documents submitted to the inquiry by the Highways Agency will have to be revised, including the Environmental Statement and all evidence. The Highways Agency has until November 30th to amend the evidence and resubmit it to the Inquiry, The Inquiry is due to fully reconvene on get all this on Nov 6th to review the progress made by the Highways Agency and again on Dec 18th to check that the revisions are all complete. Objectors will then be able to decide how the error has affected their evidence and a new programme for the inquiry will be drawn up – basically starting again!
FPD does not yet know how much of the work already submitted by our Transport Campaigns Team will have to be redone but with limited resources the odds are stacked against us. This will be the fourth major revision of the documents accompanying the draft line orders in 18 months.
To help us continue our campaign to oppose this unnecessary and unsustainable road, please support us today.