The soon to be appointed new chief of the UK infrastructure consenting body the ‘Infrastructure Planning Committee (IPC)’ told the Commons Communities and Local Government Committee this week that he is “agnostic on political parties”.
Pitt – a civil engineer, spent many years in local government and is expected to receive a near £200k salary. He claims political independence will result in no conflicts of interest within the IPC. Legal challenges are however anticipated to rise as a result of the introduction of the IPC – due to concerns surrounding the rights of the public to be heard when it comes to big infrastructure projects including new large wind energy projects (over 50MW), nuclear power stations and airports.
Margaret Beckett, Planning Minister will on Monday confirm the appointment of Pitt. But the appointment won’t be long term if the Conservative party get into power, as shadow planning minister Bob Neill Bob Neill has clarified his party’s position by saying “I don’t think that the IPC has any legitimacy“.
Further stirring in the UK planning sector has arisen from changes to the appeal system, which from April 6th, will allow the independent ‘Planning Inspectorate’ to decide whether an appeal is to be dealt with by written representations, informal hearing or a public inquiry. Benefits of the new rules mean that costs can be awarded against parties who have acted unreasonably, meaning accountability is improved.
The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) believe that most complex cases will continue to be heard at public inquiry. Debate was described by a DCLG spokesperson as “unnecessary” for simple straightforward cases who also claimed that inspectors can determine the appeal on the basis of the written information available “without any effect on the quality of decision-making.“
