Who Wants an Independent Planning Commission? (Saffron Walden Constituency Liberal Democrats)

Saffron Walden Constituency Liberal Democrats <info@saffronwaldenlibdems.org.uk>

Who Wants an Independent Planning Commission?

May 27, 2007 5:44 PM

Liberal Democrats oppose government plans to freeze local residents and pressure groups out of the planning process.

Stansted district councillor Alan Dean attacked this week's proposal from the government to freeze local people and campaign groups out of the planning process for airports at a conference in London on 23rd. May, 2007. The Waterfront conference at Transport House was on aviation and climate change. His talk was entitled 'Should the decision on whether to build a second runway at Stansted be taken by an Independent Planning Commission?'

Cllr Dean described the open and transparent way in which Uttlesford District Council handled the planning application last year for growth at Stansted beyond 25 million passengers, including many days on which many individual people and organisations were able to attend and give their point of view. He said: 'The government's preferred Independent Planning Commission would only listen to councils and other statutory organisations. Individual members of the public and campaign groups such as Stop Stansted Expansion would be frozen out and ignored. I believe this will stir up public distrust of the planning process and lead to unpleasant consequences. Why should the public trust a group of people, however technically expert they are, if they are not accountable to the public like councillors and government ministers are'.