Memorandum
submitted by RSPB (PB 9)
Achieving
Sustainable Development through the Planning Bill
The
RSPB has been an active participant in debate on planning reform since the
Planning Green Paper of 2001, including the passage of the Planning and Compulsory
Purchase Act 2004 through Parliament, and we are currently part of a coalition
of organisations who are campaigning on the Planning Bill. Collectively, over 5
million people in the UK support us.
The RSPB believes that the Planning Bill needs
significant amendment. One of the key changes that are needed is a strong duty
to further the achievement of sustainable development. We welcome the inclusion
of a duty on ministers in preparing national policy statements (clause 9), but
on its own this is insufficient.
The duty should
apply to the Infrastructure Planning Commission
Sustainable development is the core principle underlying
the planning system. The 2005 UK Sustainable Development Strategy, Securing
the Future, established the twin goals of living within environmental
limits and providing a just society by means of a sustainable economy, good
governance and sound science. These
are the five guiding principles which should underpin the decision-making
process and which should apply to all public bodies in the exercise of their
functions.
The RSPB believes that sustainable development
should not only apply to the preparation of national policy statements, but
also to the functions of the Commission. There are a number of reasons why this
is important:
· Some national policy
statements may be too general in scope to give any confidence that projects
coming forward (which are otherwise broadly compliant with the policy), will
comply with the principles of sustainable development.
· National policy statements
may not, and should not, be the only material consideration in coming to a
decision. New evidence may emerge, technologies may change and policy will
evolve. Sustainable development principles should form the basis for the
decision, not just the policy.
· Decisions on
individual projects (or recommendations by the Commission and then decision by
the Secretary of State, as we prefer) are where policy bites and where
sustainable development is put into practice.
The
duty should be more robust
There should be statutory guidance on applying
the principles of sustainable development in the preparation of national policy
statements and determining individual projects. PPS1 Delivering Sustainable Development provides a partial model for
what this might look like.
The Bill requires ministers to carry out a
'sustainability appraisal' of national policy statements (clause 5). Our
experience of sustainability appraisal in the town and country planning system
is that environmental concerns are often sidelined in favour of socio-economic
ones. Instead, the Bill should require the use of Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA) of all national policy statements, as is currently the
case for similar statements in Scotland (under the Environmental Assessment
(Scotland) Act 2005). Clarifying this point on the face of the Bill would avoid
possible future litigation on the need for SEA.
Most national policy statements are also
likely to require a form of strategic assessment under the Habitats Directive,
as most if not all of them will affect international wildlife sites. This will
require an amendment to the Habitats Regulations, as has recently been carried
out for development plans following a European Court ruling. We would like to
see a Government commitment for such an amendment.
For individual projects, applying a
sustainable development duty is in practice likely to include tools such as
Environmental Impact Assessment, assessment under the Habitats Regulations,
sustainability checklists and assessment of carbon impacts.
Crucially, both national policy statements and
projects should be clear about how they will contribute to wider
socio-environmental objectives, e.g. climate change mitigation and Biodiversity
Action Plan delivery.
The duty should be monitored and scrutinised
A duty for sustainable development would
provide an important environmental safeguard, but to be most effective there
also needs to be robust monitoring and annual reporting, which could be
incorporated within the Commission's annual performance report (Bill, Schedule
1 clause 16).
January
2008