The
Committee consisted of the following
Members:Chairman:
Mr.
David
Wilshire
Afriyie,
Adam (Windsor)
(Con) Bacon,
Mr. Richard (South Norfolk)
(Con)
Coaker,
Mr. Vernon (Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's
Treasury)
Dobbin,
Jim (Heywood and Middleton)
(Lab/Co-op) Irranca-Davies,
Huw (Ogmore)
(Lab) Jones,
Mr. David (Clwyd, West)
(Con)
Jones,
Mr. Kevan (North Durham)
(Lab)
Lepper,
David (Brighton, Pavilion)
(Lab/Co-op) Morgan,
Julie (Cardiff, North)
(Lab) Reid,
Mr. Alan (Argyll and Bute)
(LD)
Robertson,
Mr. Laurence (Tewkesbury)
(Con) Rosindell,
Andrew (Romford)
(Con)
Smith,
Angela E. (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland)
Southworth,
Helen (Warrington, South)
(Lab)
Waltho,
Lynda (Stourbridge)
(Lab) Wilson,
Sammy (East Antrim)
(DUP)
Wright,
Mr. Anthony (Great Yarmouth)
(Lab) Emily Commander, Committee
Clerk attended the
Committee First
Standing Committee on Delegated
LegislationTuesday 2
May
2006[Mr.
David Wilshire in the
Chair]Draft Planning Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 20064.30
pm The
Chairman: I welcome hon. Members to our sitting, but draw
their attention to the fact that we only just have a quorum. Although I
am sure that we shall make up for in quality what we lack in quantity,
even calls of nature will have to be resisted if we are to finish the
business before us.
The
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Angela E.
Smith): I beg to move,
That the Committee has
considered the draft Planning Reform (Northern Ireland) Order
2006. I hope that I
can live up to your expectations about quality rather than quantity,
Mr. Wilshire, and I promise not to answer any calls of nature until our
consideration is completed.
A draft of the order was laid
before the House on8 March. Its main purpose is to amend the
provisions of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 and extend
planning powers relating to development control, enforcement and
development plan preparation functions. It also fulfils a long-standing
Government commitment to end the Crowns immunity from planning
control. Many of the provisions reflect the recent changes enacted in
Great Britain by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. It
might help the Committee if I outline the main provisions in the
order. The main
provisions include measures to increase communities involvement
in issues relating to developments in their areas; to confirm in law
the importance of a development plan in determining planning
applications; to introduce more flexible procedures for considering
objections to development plans; to promote sustainable development; to
regulate the expansion of large retail outlets, with new controls on
the addition of internal floor space, including mezzanine floors; to
underline the importance of design quality; to make disabled access a
primary consideration at the start of the development process; to
remove the ability to renew a planning permission by varying the time
within which development must be started or to submit repeat or
twin-tracked planning applications; to remove the discretion to extend
the time for bringing an appeal; to introduce new powers to protect
buildings in candidate conservation areas from demolition while the
Department consults on the proposed designation; to enable faster
action to respond to breaches in planning control through the
introduction of temporary stop notices; to increase
fines for unauthorised advertisements by more than double; to allow
changes to the processing of planning appeals by introducing
legislation to an individual commissioner in certain cases; to widen
powers to charge planning fees to allow the recovery of the costs of
key consultees in processing planning applications; and to introduce
new powers to correct minor errors in decision documents and
notices. The order
will also end the Crowns immunity from planning control. Crown
bodies, including Departments, operate under a parallel version of the
planning system. Under the proposed changes, they will have to apply
for planning permission like any other developer, but with safeguards
to ensure that national security is not compromised. Finally, the order
will review old mineral permissions to ensure that they operate under
modern environmental standards.
On 28 October 2005, the
Department published a consultation paper to seek views on the order.
The closing date for comments was 23 December 2005, and the response
was encouraging. We received 57 responses, covering a wide range of
planning interests, and most supported the proposed
legislation. The new
provisions can achieve a better planning system for Northern Ireland.
They will enable us to tackle delaying factors in the planning process,
strengthen enforcement powers, enhance community involvement in
development proposals and promote the achievement of sustainable
development. I am confident that those changes will lead to a much
improved planning system, which will benefit all those involved in
it. 4.33
pm Mr.
Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con): I welcome you to
the Committee, Mr. Wilshire. As you will be aware, it is not my
practice to drag out Committee proceedings when there is no need to do
so, and I have no intention of doing so now. I have just one question
for the Minister. We have considered the review of public
administration and the transfer of powers to councils a lot recently,
but how will the order tie in with those arrangements? Other than that,
I have no questions and no
objections. 4.34
pm Angela
E. Smith: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his
broad welcome for the order.
The order contains provisions
that improve and modernise the planning process, and we will want to
take them forward irrespective of the RPAthe review of public
administrationbecause they are needed straight away. However,
they will be constantly reviewed to ensure that they operate
appropriately in the post-RPA planning authorities. The operation of
planning functions by local authorities under the RPA is not just an
issue of the distribution of functions, but changes how the planning
system operates. There will be new roles, responsibilities and
relationships for everyone involved, but we will want to take
key
elements of the order, such as ensuring community involvement, forward
under the RPA. The Planning Appeals Commission will also remain under
the RPA. The issue
has been taken into account in formulating the order. As we take the
RPA forward, it will be helpful to look at how the new functions bed in
and
operate, and the issue will be kept under review to ensure that those
parts of the planning process that we have had to speed up and improve
are fully reflected under the
RPA. Question
put and agreed to.
Committee rose
at twenty-five minutes to Five oclock.
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