News
Friends of the Earth led green groups in attacking a White Paper unveiled by Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Communities, which will amount to the biggest shake-up of planning rules in a generation. It proposes replacing lengthy and costly public planning inquiries with an independent commission.
Streamlining the system will cut the time taken for schemes to gain approval from several years to a limit of nine months.
"This will enable the Government to steamroller through its decisions," said an FoE spokesman, adding that public hearings such as the inquiry into a nuclear waste dump by Nirex will be a thing of the past.
Many critics said the White Paper was being introduced to make it easier for the Government to approve a new generation of nuclear... [continue via Web link]
| < prev | next > |




