Planning Bill

My hon. Friend is exactly right. That problem emerged in relation to the committee on casinos, which is an example of the difficulty that the Government will face in finding these commissioners. The Government say that they are expecting 45 infrastructure projects. The CBI tells us that 56 wind farm projects have been held up for more than two years. Today, we had an announcement on offshore wind farms. Will they benefit from the Bill—if so, there is already a delay because the Government will not be able to bring the legislation into force until 2009—or will they go through the planning delivery agreements system set out in 2005? The CBI wants aviation infrastructure to be based on air traffic movements, not passenger numbers, so that freight movements can be included, which would increase the number of inquiries. It also believes that port thresholds should be halved and wants quarrying included. London First wants commercial developments and train stations included—I have 13 local train stations; I cannot imagine that it seriously wants them all to be up before the commission—as well as eco-towns and large housing developments. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors believes that flood defences should be included. I could go on. How many inquiries do we really want, and how many do we think that the commission will face? The commission is expected to operate under a paper-based system of inquiry. We believe that the local people who will be affected should have the unfettered right to be heard. The Government challenge that at their peril, as we have heard from many Members on both sides of the House. I am not entirely certain, although perhaps I should not cast this aspersion, that Ministers have read clauses 82 to 85 together, because between them they take away the right to a hearing. As my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) said, that right is based on mediaeval law and includes cross-examination. Are this Government—a Labour Government—truly throwing away one of the most basic rights of the British people: the right to be heard? Despite the fact that the Secretary of State has avowed that the Bill does not contravene the Human Rights Act 1998, the right to be heard is enshrined in article 6 of the European convention on human rights, and I suggest that legal challenges will be forthcoming if the Bill is enacted in its current form. Why are the Government ignoring the 2005 pilots under the planning delivery agreements system? They have not yet been evaluated, but seem to have worked very well in the application for the business park at Bowburn, County Durham. Why are the Government not building on that? On national planning statements, we agree that the principle is sensible, but we must ask how prescriptive they are going to be. Will they merely be statements of principle or will they define locations? My right hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry) made absolutely clear the difficulties that there could be if locations are not included. Others have instanced the Association of National Park Authorities, which believes that other alternatives to major developments should be included in the strategies. I guess that the Government would reject that proposal, but it shows how complex the process would be, as pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Mr. Syms). The Government talk about due regard to sustainability. Environmental groups are concerned that that proposal should be stronger, and the Planning Disaster coalition believes that there should be an environmental NPS. What will the process be in this House? We are faced with the idea that there should be a new Select Committee, but that that Committee should not include the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department responsible for planning. So how will that Department be involved? I also suggest a quick word with the Government's Chief Whip who, as I understand it, is having extreme difficulty finding Members to sit on the regional Select Committees that are already proposed.