New clause 26 - Pre-application consultation
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Keith Hill (Minister of State (Housing and Planning), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Streatham, Labour)
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Ludlow for tabling the amendment. I understand the intention behind the amendment and I support it. Indeed, in many ways, that intention goes to the heart of a key element of our package of reforms. But I have to say—and there is always a but—the amendment is unnecessary. In explaining why, I hope to demonstrate how central to the Bill the Government's commitment is to greater public engagement at all stages of the planning process. That public engagement will create a faster and more seamless and efficient planning process.
Our reforms are intended to lead to a planning system that promotes community involvement, with clear opportunities for people to make their views known and participate fully. We have been clear since the planning Green Paper that we want more effective pre-application consultation as part of that reform, and that is exactly the point that the hon. Gentleman is driving at in his amendment.
We want a planning system that is transparent, so that information is easily available and easy to understand; promotes clear opportunities for participation; is accessible and reaches out to the community, including groups that, in the past, have not engaged easily with planning; and has clear accountability for decisions through the democratic process.
Most people become engaged in the planning process only when applications likely to have a direct impact on their lives are made. However, the hon. Member for Ludlow is absolutely right—the best local authorities and good developers already involve communities in plan-making and significant planning proposals. On the evidence, that process is valued by those who participate and by people who have shown that they want to be involved in the issues. Members of the public are often unaware both of their rights and of how to best put their views to influence decisions.
Ensuring community involvement is a challenge, but it also offers the local community the opportunity to have an important say in what sort of place they want to live in. Under the new planning system, the wishes of local people included in the so-called local development framework—the folder of local development documents that will collectively deliver the spatial strategy for the local planning authority's area—should be, and are, reflected. The views of local people have always been an integral part of the planning process. The case for the community's voice to be heard is clear. Public involvement is valuable as a key element of an open and participatory democracy. Involvement improves the quality and efficiency of decision-making by using local knowledge and minimising unnecessary and costly conflict, to use the words that the hon. Member for Ludlow spoke in moving his amendment.