Planning Bill

I am going to come on to the point about Wales. If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I want to make some progress and respond to hon. Members on some substantive points. My right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich was quite right in his observations about the role and importance of good planning. The hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington asked three specific questions, so let me provide the answers. The first was about the role of local authorities—a worry shared by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts). Let me make it clear that local authorities will have a central role in the new regime. They will be statutory consultees on national planning statements that identify particular locations for development. Developers will be obliged to consult them on their project proposals and they will also be statutory consultees in the inquiry system. The Bill thus protects and enhances rather than reduces the role of local authorities. Secondly, the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington asked whether the infrastructure planning commission could reject applications and the short answer, in view of the limited time available, is yes. We can discuss the basis of that in more detail later. Thirdly, he asked whether we gave more weight to some consultation responses than to others. Let me be clear that equal weight was given to responses to the consultation, regardless of who gave them. Let me also say that where there is clear evidence that individuals have considered the matters personally, that can often be of greater assistance to us than pro-forma letters. More information is revealed and many of the pro-forma letters did not address the questions that we had set out in the consultation. The right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal raised a series of points. He was principally concerned about the public voice at the local level. May I tell him, my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) and the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) that the public voice will be clear, as I will explain? Promoters will be required to consult local communities before submitting an application to the commission. They will also consult the relevant local authority and other bodies such as the Environment Agency, English Heritage and others, depending on the impact of a particular project. Local people will be able to submit evidence in writing, allowing some to participate without taking long periods off work to attend inquiries. People who have registered will also have the right to give evidence at an oral session organised by the commission. In other words, the public will be able to put across their own points of view without the need to hire expensive barristers. That is also my answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham who spoke about the right to be heard.