Planning Bill

My Lords, the noble Baroness has come back with Amendment No. 118, which seeks to ensure that the grant of consent for associated development would be limited to development required to facilitate the development to which it is associated; in other words, that it is necessary. She is concerned—if she was not, she would not have brought the amendment back—that this provision may be abused by promoters to sneak through additional development which is not in fact necessary for the operational effectiveness of nationally significant infrastructure, and which should therefore be dealt with by the appropriate planning regime. I hope that I can again reassure her on this point. Clause 112 states that when the decision-maker has decided an application for an order granting development consent, it must either refuse the application or make an order granting development consent. Clause 113 then provides that the development consent under such an order can be either for development where consent is required, and/or for associated development which the promoter has chosen to include in the application for development consent. It is the Government’s intention that a promoter should be able to combine the ““core element”” of a nationally significant infrastructure project—that is, those works which meet the definitions in Clauses 15 to 30—with associated works into a single application. Such associated development might include ensuring that the new infrastructure is connected to other national networks, or other development which is needed to allow the new infrastructure to operate as intended. Associated development shall in no instance include the construction or extension of housing. The expression ““associated development”” is new, and I think that that is part of the issue we are addressing. In England at the moment, however, the Secretary of State has the power to call in any application for planning permission, and this power can be exercised in relation to development closely connected with a major infrastructure project. Therefore, the concept is not new. The Government’s firm intention is that promoters should not be able to abuse the facility to include associated development in an order granting development consent. The new single consents regime is about ensuring that works necessary to the development and operational effectiveness of new infrastructure can be consented through a single application. It is not the Government’s intention to create a mechanism to grant authorisations for works that are not in fact necessary for the development and operational effectiveness of nationally significant infrastructure. The noble Baroness raises an important point and we have thought about how we can best address it. The most effective thing we can do is ensure that everyone is quite clear about this. To that end, the Secretary of State will set out guidance for a panel or for the council on what should or should not be considered an associated work, and that could form part of an order granting development consent. We will try to meet the point in that way, making sure that they are clear, and that will be put into guidance.