The government's Localism Bill proposals could create a new, less accountable level of planning bureaucracy that waste infrastructure proposals will have to overcome, according to a leading planning lawyer.
The concern is that it will simply create a new more local and less accountable bureaucracy to overcome in seeking to get proposals through
Lisa Tye, Semple Fraser
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Lisa Tye, a director in the planning group at Semple Fraser, which has offices UK-wide, highlighted plans contained in the Bill for local referendums on specific issues and for neighbourhood groups to have a greater say in planning as potentially impacting on the waste and recycling sector.
And, she also raised the potential for the Bill's plans to place a legal requirement on developers to run pre-application consultations for new proposals to make the planning process even longer, suggesting it could even lead to some consents being challenged.
Ms Tye's comments came as the Localism Bill passed through its second reading in the House of Commons last week (see letsrecycle.com story).
The government claims the proposals will increase the role that local communities and councils will have in deciding on applications for new developments, but leading figures in the waste sector have already warned that they do not do enough to address the planning barriers faced by waste projects (see letsrecycle.com story).
Community involvement
Ms Tye suggested the Bill could have a “profound” impact on developing waste and recycling projects by potentially creating another layer of community involvement in proposals.
“For the waste industry, used to dealing with controversial proposals and already facing the need to engage with local communities, the concern is that it will simply create a new more local and less accountable bureaucracy to overcome in seeking to get proposals through the planning process,” she said.
Ms Tye highlighted a raft of elements in the legislative proposal that would be of importance to the waste sector, such as local referendums, which could be called by as little as 5% of the local electorate on local issues. She claimed these could be used as a “tool of those against” development.
In addition, Ms Tye said a legal requirement for pre-consultation could add to the planning timetable, explaining that: “This could elongate the time frame for delivery of development and those who fail to consult properly or take views into account will face the prospect of having their consent challenged.”
And, she also drew attention to proposals on neighbourhood planning, where a body of as few as three residents would be able seek the making of a Neighbourhood Development Order to grant planning permission for an area.
“There is a clear danger that those [who are] more articulate and better educated interests will carry more weight in planning decisions,” Ms Tye claimed.
Furthermore, the inclusion of plans to narrow the scope of pre-determination as a basis for alleging a councillor's bias on issues could, Ms Tye claimed, give them more freedom to express their opinion on a controversial proposal from the outset, even if they were involved in the final decision.
EU
Among the Bill's most talked-about proposals are plans to give the government the power to pass on fines for failing to reach EU targets – such as those for waste and recycling – to councils, with the Local Government Association last week claiming this could cost local authorities £1 billion (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, Ms Tye suggested that this threat could actually help to move waste projects forward, explaining that, “the threat of EU fines being passed down to local authorities may potentially give impetus to innovative proposals for dealing with waste, particularly where they can assist in meeting recycling targets.”
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