Levelling up & Regeneration Bill -Clause 97
URGENT ACTION NEEDED
It has come to our attention that this particular clause, which is about to be read by the Commons Committee is highly controversial and takes away any responsibility on central government to consult with local authorities when applying for planning permission.
This clause inserts new sections 293B to 293J into the Town and Country Planning Act (‘the Act’) to provide for two new routes to apply for planning permission for the development of Crown land in England; where the development is considered to be of national importance, and where it is necessary that the development be carried out as a matter of urgency (293B to 293C), and where development is of national importance but not considered to be urgent (293D to 293J). The provisions allow the appropriate authority (as defined in section 293 of the Act, such as Government Departments and others with a Crown or Duchy Interest) to apply to the Secretary of State for planning permission in these two circumstances instead of the Local Planning Authority. These apply to England only and replace the existing Crown Land provisions in 293A, which remain in place for Wales only.
In layman’s terms if it’s Crown land the government can go to The Levelling Up Committee (whoever replaces Gove) for planning rather than local councils. We believe this is a way for the Home Office to negate the legal challenges like they have come across previously at Napier, Penally and Yarl’s Wood. In these cases there would be NO CONSULTATION.
Action Needed
If, like us you feel this is non democratic and just another example of central government abusing their power and position, then please write to scrutiny@parliament.uk stating your concerns. The more people who can do this the more impact it will have.