Planning Bill
12:00 pm
Phil Jones: My company and I do not feel particularly strongly about where that comes in the technical process of the IPC. As far as I am concerned, it can do it when it likes. What we favour very strongly about the whole concept of the planning commission is that, in scenarios not dissimilar to that which I described a few moments ago, it puts us in a situation where we would be engaging with a set of people who would probably be quite well qualified to have those kind of discussions. Certainly, after working at it for a while, they would become increasingly proficient in the difficult trade-offs and dilemmas that have to be faced when questions are being asked, such as, “Where shall we put the assets that people do not think are too pretty?”
From our point of view, I do not think it holds any positive prospects for us, in the sense that there is more, or less, cross-examination. What we like about it is the measure of consistency and the opportunity to go to a place that is proficient, expert, well resourced and set up to do that kind of thing, and it will debate till the cows come home. Then we would be told in one place, by people who know what they are talking about, that we have brought a bad proposal, and to go away and come back with something different. I do not profess to be an expert in whether that is appropriate or otherwise, or whether it is feasible and practical to allow that kind of cross-examination, but I certainly do not mind it. They can do it whenever is most appropriate.
We would like to be able to put our hand on our heart and say, “This makes us more accountable, not less.” We are not trying to move the debate into a smoke-filled room somewhere, where it is done behind closed doors and nobody has a say. Just bring the debate on in one place, so that we do not have to go to six different planning authorities for different aspects of the same scheme. If somebody wants a connection, and if it is in the national interest, and it brings with it a whole host—maybe many miles—of overhead lines, cables, substations and lots of other works, let us put it all on the table, and let everybody who is interested in any part of it come and challenge us. They can cross-examine us, or do it however they wish, in our view.