New clause 27 - Qualified third party right of appeal
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
5:30 pm
Mr Matthew Green (Ludlow, Liberal Democrat)
New clause 27 offers a qualified third-party right of appeal. The idea of third party rights of appeal has been batted around the various parties and organisations concerned with planning for several years now. There is a perceived unfairness in the current procedures for participation in planning. Prospective developers may appeal against the refusal of their planning application, whereas third parties cannot appeal against approval. Their only recourse for action is a judicial review. Extensive independent research has been carried out, initially supported by eight organisations: the Campaign to Protect Rural England, to which I am grateful for the wording of this new clause, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, WWF UK, the Civic Trust, Friends of the Earth, the Town and Country Planning Association, the Environmental Law Foundation and ROOM, the national council for housing and planning. They have subsequently been joined by the Ancient Monuments Society, the National Trust, the Ramblers Association and Transport 2000. That forms a heavy group of bodies.
The report published in January 2002 recommended that there should be an opportunity for those disadvantaged and aggrieved by planning approvals to seek redress in certain restricted circumstances. I certainly would not support a wide-ranging third-party right of appeal, but since the right
is limited to a certain set of circumstances and would help the planning system, I am happy to support it. The third parties that would be in the position to claim the right of appeal would be people directly affected by the development, nearby local authorities when the development is on the border of two local authorities, interest groups, statutory agencies and Government Departments. Not just the ODPM but other Departments could appeal against applications.