Planning Bill

We have heard a lot about respect for local democracy and communities' input into planning decisions. That is to be devoutly welcomed, because we have probably all been involved in that process at some point in our careers. However, we must ask ourselves whether a planning system that is built on that premise is fit for purpose in the modern age. Unfortunately, given that addressing climate change is probably the most compelling political driver of national policy, and that one of the most powerful ways of addressing climate change is to decarbonise our energy economy by deploying renewable electricity generation as rapidly as possible, we are not doing terribly well. If we pursue a position of ““business as usual”” in all circumstances that either help or make life difficult for renewable energy developers, the renewable energy generation target of 10 per cent. by 2010 will be quite unattainable, while the target of 20 per cent. by 2020 also looks more than a little sick. We have a country with some of the richest raw renewable energy sources in the world, yet we are failing to make progress. That is a bizarre and unacceptable fact, and we cannot go on that way, which is one compelling reason why we must address the planning system.