Government plans to speed up the planning process could become law sooner than expected, with DTLR sources suggesting the policy will go straight to White Paper stage.
Gordon Brown previously said at the launch of the Treasurys Enterprise for All document that the Government would produce a Green Paper on planning “some time in the autumn”. But DTLR sources have said a firmer line will be taken, and the Green Paper stage may be skipped altogether. One said: “Expect the planning White Paper around November.”
A Green Paper would present for discussion proposals to speed-up the application process, while a White Paper would be a clearer statement of Government policy. A DTLR spokesman admitted the proposal would appear “at the very least as a Green Paper with white edges”.
Another observer said: “Theres no need for another consultation paper. The measures to speed up the planning process will be based on the 1998 Modernising Planning consultation paper.”
The 1998 Green Paper proposed alterations to the mechanics of the planning system rather than changes to planning policy itself. Interested parties, such as the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, the CBI and the RICS, are making detailed submissions on planning reform to government.
A consultation paper on plans to fast-track strategic projects, such as airports and power stations, was published by the DTLR on Friday.
EGi News 21/07/01
