Clause 23
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Richard Benyon (Shadow Minister, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Newbury, Conservative)
Through this group of amendments, we seek to strengthen the role of the MMO in relation to its interaction with the IPC through making it a statutory adviser to the IPC on developments that impact the marine and coastal environment within the Planning Act 2008 and the Bill.
Members of the Committee will be aware that the Conservatives are no lovers of the IPC, a point which we did our best to make in the debates on the Planning Act 2008. We will probably revisit this issue in the near future. However, we are dealing with a situation in the here and now and therefore we must get it right for the framework of planning, as far as the Bill is concerned and at this time.
It is important that there is explicit accountability within the Planning Act 2008 for advice to be sought from the MMO through the planning process, which is what we seek to achieve in this group of amendments. Our amendments seek to weave the role of the MMO into the 2008 Act, so that it has defined involvement at the key stages of the process of assessing applications for marine and coastal developments.
Part 6 of the 2008 Act deals with deciding applications, and amendment 6 would insert a new section into chapter 1, which centres on the handling of applications by the IPC. The new section would be inserted after section 60, which outlines the provision for the IPC to request a local impact report from local authorities. That is the stage at which an application has been accepted for processing by the IPC and the applicant has sent notice of that to all persons required, including the MMO. That would be the opportune moment for the IPC to request advice from the MMO on the principal issues that may affect the marine environment before making an initial assessment of issues and holding a preliminary meeting with relevant parties under section 88.
The MMO is listed as a recipient of the notice to be issued by the applicant and as an interested person. We believe that its role could be further strengthened, specifically by allowing the IPC to request advice at the beginning of the examination process. That is additional and complimentary to the role of the MMO as a participant in the examination proceedings.
In order to clarify the issue, I was going to offer an explanation, but, while contemplating what I was going to say earlier, I found on my desk a useful briefing document from the RSPB, which is one of the key interested parties. The Minister will note that I did not use the S-word, but if I get through the Committee process without using the lexicon of new Labour, I will have achieved something, so I will use the term “interested parties”.