Further written evidence reported to the House
Planning Bill
9:15 am
Alun Michael (Cardiff South and Penarth, Labour)
I want to ask you about your approach to making the process constructive, both in relation to the role of the commission and the processes. Friends of the Earth on some occasions has demonstrated a capacity for constructive engagement with big issues. On other occasions, it has been totally obstructive, perhaps through frustration with process, which is why it is so important to look at that. Would you agree that speed and quality of scrutiny are not necessarily the same, or, to put it another way, that long drawn-out scrutiny is not necessarily better or more objective or more capable of engaging the public or interested parties in scrutiny? How would you set about getting that balance between, on the one hand, speed and opportunity for engagement in a time frame that everybody can understand and, on the other hand, improving the quality of scrutiny and evidence-based discussion of particular issues?