More than 60 Labour MPs are threatening to derail plans to weaken people's long-standing right to oppose the building of new nuclear power stations and airport runways in their own "backyards".
Ministers want to hand the final decisions to an unelected quango, and Labour whips are trying to head off a backbench rebellion when the Planning Bill is debated in the Commons tomorrow. Sixty-three Labour MPs have threatened to vote against the measure and ministers are set to offer concessions to avert an embarrassing first Commons defeat for Gordon Brown – one which would prompt further questions about his authority.....
Under the Bill, an independent infrastructure planning commission would decide whether to approve such projects. Environmental groups and MPs from all parties have condemned the proposals as an affront to democracy. They say the final say on such developments should not be handed to an unelected quango but should be retained by ministers accountable to the public.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England warned that the shake-up would remove democratic control over all the most contentious planning decisions. "This is crunch time for planning in this country," said Paul Miner, its senior planning campaigner. "Airport expansion and new power stations are huge matters of public concern. If ministers are serious about moving towards a greener future and more prudent use of resources, they should take the hard decisions this involves. MPs must stand up and be counted and use their votes to make sure we continue to have democratic accountability in our biggest planning decisions."....
The vote has been delayed twice to give ministers more time to head off a defeat. Mr Brown has been telephoning potential Labour rebels, who have signed a Commons motion saying the proposed planning commission would have "inordinate and unprecedented" powers....
The Conservative leader, David Cameron, said: "This quango is going to be almost entirely divorced from the processes of democracy. That is wrong. People need a planning system in which they feel they have a say – both at national and local level. That is why this Bill is getting such widespread opposition from so many different quarters."
REST HERE
Tarn Lass
0 comments:
Post a Comment