Greater London Authority Bill

moved Amendment No. 91: 91: Before Clause 31, insert the following new Clause— ““Determination of applications for planning permission (1) Section 70 of TCPA 1990 (determination of applications: general considerations) is amended as follows. (2) After subsection (2) insert— ““(2A) In respect of applications which are to be determined by the Mayor of London in accordance with a direction under section 2A of this Act, the Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about— (a) how the Mayor should take into consideration those aspects of the application which are not relevant to the spatial development strategy but are relevant to other development plans; (b) how the Mayor should deal with cases which require him to have regard to the spatial development strategy and another development plan, but where there are conflicts between the two.””.”” The noble Baroness said: I rise to move us firmly into the planning process. In moving the amendment, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 93 and 95, which relate to the planning applications over which it is proposed the Mayor should have powers. The planning part of the Bill has exercised us greatly. It is the area in which the Mayor is being given more power than any other part of the Bill and it could potentially leave Londoners open to planning applications being considered away from them. As the Minister knows, we favour more freedom for the boroughs, increased co-operation between them and more flexibility in the market. However, the extension of powers given by Part 7 is alarming, not least because, as my honourable friend Michael Gove pointed out in the other place, the Mayor has already expressed an opinion about 12,000 planning applications since he took office. His powers are barely restrained by legislation. There may have been persuasive oratory about the approach that the Mayor is likely to take in exercising his powers, but unless his role is clearly defined and controlled, that will matter little. This is part of the motivation for Amendment No. 91. The principle behind Amendment No. 93 and some of the amendments tabled by my noble friend Lord Jenkin of Roding is important. It is clearly to define and restrict at an appropriate level what constitutes an application of strategic importance. I have read the draft town and country planning order, which purports to define ““strategic importance””, and I think we will be in a court of law trying to define what that is. It is not clear, and it is not clear in the regulations either. I hope that by the time we get there somebody will have had a better effort at it. My amendment clearly defines and restricts at an appropriate level what constitutes an application of strategic importance. There is real concern about how often the Mayor can intervene in applications that are not genuinely of strategic or citywide importance. There are nearly 200 targets in the London plan that applications are expected to meet. It is inconceivable that an application could meet all of them. There is consequential concern that the Mayor could use failure to reach certain targets as an excuse to intervene. Amendment No. 95 is included because there is no reason for the Mayor to have to add officers concerned with planning enforcement to his employees. The Mayor’s proposed planning powers are too wide ranging and poorly defined. The areas in which he can intervene under these provisions will cause great difficulties to local authorities. We have had more correspondence on the subject of these planning provisions than on any other part of the Bill, and it behoves us to ensure that we have them detailed and sorted out before we finish with this Bill. I beg to move.