Green groups attack new planning laws

RADICAL changes to planning laws under consideration by the Scottish Executive were condemned by environmental organisations yesterday.

The proposals would make it almost impossible to stop major developments such as nuclear power stations, waste dumps, airports and wind farms.

Under the move, public inquiries into such major projects would be limited in scope. If the schemes were deemed as having national strategic importance, it would no longer be possible to challenge the need for them at the inquiries.

Instead, they would be able only to look into the detail or location of the proposed scheme.

The move was disclosed in a leaked document said to have been put to the Cabinet three weeks ago, and to form the basis of a white paper next month.

The Executive, which has launched a hunt for the source of the leak, insisted no decision had yet been made and that "discussions" were still under way.

Malcolm Chisholm, the communities minister said: "We are working on a set of proposals designed to improve and streamline the planning process.

"But we are determined to balance the rights of communities with the need for a more efficient planning process."

Under the scheme, once large-scale developments such as wind farms or industrial estates had been designated as part of the "national planning framework" (NPF), the scope for challenging them would be limited. The leaked paper stated: "The NPF would gain its legitimacy from approval by Cabinet and scrutiny by parliament.

"There would not be a role for a lengthy, exhaustive formal public consultation, nor for a planning inquiry led by reporters.

"The inclusion of a project in the NPF, however, will limit the scope for it to be challenged on the grounds of need ... simplifying the inquiry by limiting the issues to those such as location and detailed consideration of associated environmental effects."

Patrick Harvie, a Green MSP, suggested the Executive might be anxious to have the new system in place before 2007, when local councils elected through proportional representation would be "more representative" of people’s views.

Duncan McLaren, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland said: "This is a naked power-grab by ministers which will centralise planning, reduce public involvement and allow the imposition of unpopular and environmentally-damaging projects. In the hands of this Executive that means things like the M74 motorway. In the future, who knows ... even new nuclear power stations could be driven through this proposed system with almost no regard to public opinion. Virtually all that would remain for the public to influence would be what colour to paint them."

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader at Holyrood, condemned the plans."This report only confirms our view that Labour are looking to impose new nuclear power stations in Scotland after the general election.This is a desperate attempt to impose unpopular and unneeded developments in Scotland."