The government’s proposals to let parliament decide what nationally important projects get the go ahead will be “quicker and more democratically accountable”, according to planning minister Lord Falconer.
The proposals, originally mooted by the DTLR in July, were officially announced today in the Commons by DTLR secretary Stephen Byers.
If implemented they will hand decision-making on national infrastructure projects, like airports, rail links and roads, to Parliament in a bid to avoid the massive delays which dogged Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
Falconer said: “The current system with its adversarial, legalistic nature excludes people, is hard to understand and is expensive. It serves neither the interests of business nor the wider community.
“There is a clear business case for moving decisions on nationally important projects to the nation’s parliament. But communities will also benefit by the enhanced consultation rights I have announced today. There will be few outside legalcircles who will mourn the demise of the current system.”
The current system was recently described by Byers as a “banquet for lawyers”. However some insiders have argued that the proposals may result in an increase of Human Rights Act appeals due to people being excluded from the consultation process.
Falconer also rejected fears that a quick decision would be a bad decision: “There is no connection between the length of time it takes to reach a conclusion and the quality of that outcome. Faster decisions are not necessarily worse decisions.”
EGi News 17/12/01
