Planning Bill


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Clause 16

Underground gas storage
12.45 pm
Amendments made: No. 114, in clause 16, page 8, line 30, leave out ‘storage of gas’ and insert ‘gas storage facilities’.
No. 115, in clause 16, page 8, line 31, leave out ‘or (3)’ and insert ‘, (3) or (3B)’.
No. 116, in clause 16, page 8, line 33, leave out
‘facilities for the underground storage of gas’
and insert ‘underground gas storage facilities’.
No. 117, in clause 16, page 8, line 35, leave out from ‘use’ to end and insert
‘underground gas storage facilities in England,
and the condition in subsection (3A) is met in relation to the facilities.’.
No. 118, in clause 16, page 8, line 37, leave out from ‘use’ to end of line 38 and insert
‘underground gas storage facilities in Wales,
(aa) the facilities are facilities for the storage of gas underground in natural porous strata,’.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
No. 119, in clause 16, page 8, line 39, after ‘transporter’ insert ‘, and
(c) the condition in subsection (3A) is met in relation to the facilities.’.
No. 120, in clause 16, page 8, line 39, at end insert—
‘(3A) The condition is that—
(a) the working capacity of the facilities is expected to be at least 43 million standard cubic metres, or
(b) the maximum flow rate of the facilities is expected to be at least 4.5 million standard cubic metres per day.
(3B) Development is within this subsection if—
(a) it is the carrying out of operations for the purpose of altering underground gas storage facilities in England, and
(b) the effect of the alteration is expected to be—
(i) to increase by at least 43 million standard cubic metres the working capacity of the facilities, or
(ii) to increase by at least 4.5 million standard cubic metres per day the maximum flow rate of the facilities.
(3C) “Underground gas storage facilities” means facilities for the storage of gas underground in cavities or in porous strata.
(3D) In this section—
“gas transporter” has the same meaning as in Part 1 of the Gas Act 1986 (see section 7(1) of that Act);
“maximum flow rate”, in relation to underground gas storage facilities, means the maximum rate at which gas is able to flow out of the facilities, on the assumption that—
(a) the facilities are filled to maximum capacity, and
(b) the rate is measured after any processing of gas required on its recovery from storage;
“working capacity”, in relation to underground gas storage facilities, means the capacity of the facilities for storage of gas underground, ignoring any capacity for storage of cushion gas.
(3E) In subsection (3D) “cushion gas” means gas which is kept in underground gas storage facilities for the purpose of enabling other gas stored there to be recovered from storage.’.
No. 121, in clause 16, page 8, line 40, leave out subsection (4).—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
Clause 16, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 17

Pipe-lines
Amendment made: No. 122, in clause 17, page 9, line 2, leave out ‘the pipe-line is or (when constructed) will’ and insert
‘(when constructed) the pipe-line is expected to’.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I beg to move amendment No. 123, in clause 17, page 9, line 24, leave out subsection (5) and insert—
‘(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), a pipe-line is a nationally significant pipe-line if—
(a) development consent is required, and has been granted, for its construction, or
(b) its construction has been authorised by a pipe-line construction authorisation under section 1(1) of the Pipe-lines Act 1962.’.
The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 148 to 150.
Jim Fitzpatrick: The amendments make minor changes to the pipeline aspects of the Bill and ensure that the infrastructure planning commission can consider proposals for a diversion to an existing pipeline if that pipeline is authorised under previous legislation. I commend them to the Committee.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 17, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 18 disagreed to .

Clause 19

Airports
Amendment made: No. 125, in clause 19, page 10, line 8, leave out from ‘England’ to end of line 20 and insert ‘or in English waters, and
(b) is expected to be capable of providing services which meet the requirements of subsection (2).
(2) Services meet the requirements of this subsection if they are—
(a) air passenger transport services for at least 10 million passengers per year, or
(b) air cargo transport services for at least 10,000 air transport movements of cargo aircraft per year.
(3) An alteration of an airport is within section 13(1)(f) only if—
(a) the airport is in England or in English waters, and
(b) the alteration is expected to have the effect specified in subsection (4).
(4) The effect is—
(a) to increase by at least 10 million per year the number of passengers for whom the airport is capable of providing air passenger transport services, or
(b) to increase by at least 10,000 per year the number of air transport movements of cargo aircraft for which the airport is capable of providing air cargo transport services.
(5) “Alteration”, in relation to an airport, includes the construction, extension or alteration of—
(a) a runway at the airport,
(b) a building at the airport, or
(c) a radar or radio mast, antenna or other apparatus at the airport.
(6) In this section—
“air cargo transport services” means services for the carriage by air of cargo;
“air passenger transport services” means services for the carriage by air of passengers;
“air transport movement” means a landing or take-off of an aircraft;
“cargo” includes mail;
“cargo aircraft” means an aircraft which is—
(c) designed to transport cargo but not passengers, and
(d) engaged in the transport of cargo on commercial terms;
“English waters” means waters adjacent to England up to the seaward limits of the territorial sea.’.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
Clause 19, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 20

Harbour facilities
Amendments made: No. 126, in clause 20, page 10, line 22, leave out ‘or extension’.
No. 127, in clause 20, page 10, line 23, leave out ‘the harbour facilities will (when constructed or extended)’ and insert ‘(when constructed) the harbour facilities—
‘(a) will be in England or Wales or in waters adjacent to England or Wales up to the seaward limits of the territorial sea, and
(b) are expected to’.
No. 128, in clause 20, page 10, line 25, at end insert—
‘(1A) The alteration of harbour facilities is within section 13(1)(g) only if—
(a) the harbour facilities are in England or Wales or in waters adjacent to England or Wales up to the seaward limits of the territorial sea, and
(b) the effect of the alteration is expected to be to increase by at least the relevant quantity per year the quantity of material the embarkation or disembarkation of which the facilities are capable of handling.’.
No. 129, in clause 20, page 10, line 30, at end insert—
‘(d) in the case of facilities for more than one of the types of ships mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c), an equivalent quantity of material.
(2A) For the purposes of subsection (2)(d), facilities are capable of handling an equivalent quantity of material if the sum of the relevant fractions is one or more.
(2B) The relevant fractions are—
(a) to the extent that the facilities are for container ships—
where x is the number of TEU that the facilities are capable of handling;
(b) to the extent that the facilities are for ro-ro ships—
where y is the number of units that the facilities are capable of handling;
(c) to the extent that the facilities are for cargo ships of any other description—
where z is the number of tonnes of material that the facilities are capable of handling.’.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
Clause 20, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 21

Railways
Tom Brake: I beg to move amendment No. 162, in clause 21, page 11, line 3, at end add
‘but excludes tramways, and guided transport as defined under subsections 81(2)(b) and 81(2)(c) of the Railways Act 1993’.
It is a pleasure to be under your chairmanship, Mr. Illsley, and I hope that you are able to remain in your seat for the rest of the deliberations. Clearly, there are some challenges there.
It is a great pleasure to speak in favour of the amendment. It touches on a number of points that have been raised throughout the Committee’s proceedings, particularly the question of overloading the commission, which the Minister said he was keen to avoid. He also said that he was keen not to remove from local authorities control over issues that are significant in their areas.
I am fortunate to have the Croydon tram close to my constituency, and it is clear that the sort of deliberations that had to happen over the route, such as the impact on local people of much of the tram route running through local streets, clearly required the local authority to deal with them. Such deliberations should not be tackled by the commission.
Equally, there is a strong demand for, and many vocal advocates of, the tram to be extended to Sutton, my area. I mention in passing Abigail Lock, if only because she is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Sutton and Croydon for the Greater London authority, who is leading the campaign to bring the tram to Sutton. Should that happen, there would be challenges from residents who object to having the tram coming down their streets, and the local authority and the local councillors will have the best insight into what would be acceptable and what would be the preferable route. It should be within their hands to manage that application. There will be a huge concern if the responsibility for considering that ends up with a commission that, with the best will in the world, will not be able to acquire the local knowledge itself and will find it difficult to bring in others who have that knowledge, because it rests with local councillors and residents.
I also think that local authorities will not drag their feet in the case of trams. In recent years, the Government’s position on trams has changed slightly, as hon. Members will know. They were going to provide additional capacity and solve many of the congestion problems in our major cities, but the Government have gone a little cold on them. Many local authorities, however, have been bidding for, and are keen to have, tram schemes in their areas. Therefore, they would be unlikely to drag that process out unnecessarily, and that is similar to what the Minister wants to do, as he wants those decisions to be taken quickly. As a result of the important role that local authorities can play in reducing congestion through tram schemes, they will want to facilitate that process.
Mrs. Lait: I share the hon. Gentleman’s proximity to the Croydon tram and one of the projected extensions is in my constituency. He is talking about local government making the decisions, but I suggest that those will now sadly be made by the Mayor. I hope he agrees that we should change that.
Tom Brake: I thank the hon. Lady for her helpful intervention. She may well be right that the Mayor would have a major say, if not a total say, in the matter. Setting aside the current incumbent, in general terms the preference would still be for the Mayor, who has more democratic credibility—I remind her that I am talking in general terms, as I see that she is choking on her fizzy water.
In general terms, the Mayor has more democratic accountability than the commission will ever have. Therefore, it will be appropriate for him to take on that role in London. Indeed, I know that the hon. Lady’s and my own preferred candidate for Mayor have made it clear that they would seek to engage, at a very low level, with local authorities to ensure that there was a decent working relationship and that their views were taken fully into account.
I do not wish to prolong matters further, but simply to say that there is a strong case for the remit of trams and guided transport not to be taken up by the commission. We are not talking about nationally significant transport projects. We are talking about transport projects that are significant at a local or possibly regional level, but certainly not at a national level. I will listen with interest to the Minister’s explanation as to why he thinks that trams and guided transport should be included within the Bill’s scope.
Jim Fitzpatrick: The hon. Gentleman raises concerns with regard to the scope of clause 21. Specifically, he wishes to exclude tramways and guided transport from the types of project that the IPC will consider. We are sympathetic to his points. Those types of development are often limited to a specific locality. That is why the Department for Transport is exploring the potential to devolve them to local authorities to determine. Guided transport, including trams, is currently considered by the Secretary of State using the Transport and Works Act 1992. We will be consulting on and devolving those powers to local authorities as part of the sub-national review consultation that I mentioned in our discussions on highways.
With regard to clause 21, however, the Government are currently considering the scope of the types of railway development that should be included in the Bill. In doing so, I am happy to take on board the hon. Gentleman’s concerns, and will come back to him and the Committee on Report, possibly to include a suitable Government amendment to address categories such as light rail, which would be separate. I hope that, with that assurance on both those areas being examined either on Report and/or through the sub-national review that we have mentioned, he will feel able to withdraw his amendment.
Tom Brake: I thank the Minister for his response. He has provided some helpful clarification. On the basis that either on Report or as a result of the sub-national review the matter will be addressed and there will be clarity for local authorities, and possibly the Mayor, on where responsibility for those sort of projects will lie, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 21 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
 
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Prepared 23 January 2008