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Communities will have no say in future plans
Posted: 17/05/2007
Future developments including nuclear power stations and airport runways may be forced through without public consultation. A massive overhaul of planning in the UK could leave affected communities with little or no say in how their area is developed. Environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to rethink its plans and introduce a planning system which allows people a say on the decisions that affect them.
Under the new system central Government would issue national statements of policy which will give the green light to site specific projects considered to be of national importance. Affected communities will have no meaningful opportunity to debate the need for the development. Public input will be limited to how the project is implemented.
Many of the new developments are also likely to lead to major increases in carbon dioxide emissions - putting it at odds with the Government's stated aims for tackling climate change.
The proposals, due to be published in a White Paper next week, are expected to include eight statements relating to nuclear power plants, nuclear waste disposal plants, airports, motorways, waste incinerators, wind farms, ports and reservoirs. The statements will clear the way for:
An underground dump for long-lived nuclear waste: In June 2005 Nirex - the Government's nuclear waste agency - published a short list of eleven possible sites that were considered for a deep-level nuclear dump during the 1980's. The list included sites in Essex, Scotland, Humberside, Norfolk and Cumbria.
Up to ten nuclear power plants including a third reactor at Sizewell in Suffolk - Sizewell C. The local community is particularly concerned that they will not have the opportunity to raise concerns relating the safety of the new plant. Under the rules safety issues including the storage of radioactive waste on site to evacuation procedures in the event of an accident will not be covered by a public inquiry.
Five airport expansions including a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Constructing a third runway and a sixth terminal will mean a 70 per cent increase in passengers by 2030 and a massive increase in carbon dioxide emissions. It will also mean more noise, pollution for the estimated one million people who live under Heathrow flight paths. Three local community groups have formed to fight the airport expansion.
Giant incinerators including the proposed Ineos-Chlor incinerator at Weston Point, Halton in the North West. The plant, which will be located a few hundred metres from residential housing, will incinerate 850,000 tonnes of waste from across the North West every year. The `Halton Action Group against the Incinerator' has been formed to challenge the planning permission in an area which already has one of the worst health records for cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, suicides and infant mortality.
Friends of the Earth Planning Advisor Hugh Ellis said: "The planning White Paper will give the green light to massive new developments while stripping away opportunities for affected communities or the wider public to input on the decisions. This is policy making at its worst - it will destroy local communities and exacerbate climate change. The Government must rethink its proposals and introduce a planning system that allows people a say on decisions that affect them."
The White Paper is based in a series of reviews commissioned by the Treasury including the Barker Report on English land use planning, Sir Rod Eddington's review of Britain's transport requirements and proposals from the Government's Energy Review.
Friends of the Earth is a member of a coalition of social and environmental organisations campaigning for a system that puts people at the heart of the planning system. To find out more including how to take action, visit www.planningdisaster.org
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