Sir, Camilla Cavendish is wrong to say the Planning Bill bypasses democracy (June 26). It will create a fairer, more open system with a higher level of public and parliamentary scrutiny.

Everyone agrees that the current planning system needs change. Fuel bills are rising and a new low-carbon and renewable energy infrastructure is an urgent national priority, but currently decisions take years, penalising the public and holding investment back.

This Bill will streamline eight complex legal regimes into just one system that can assess and decide an application for a main energy, water or transport project in a year. Instead of the one David and Goliath chance for people to have a say at a planning inquiry, there will be three stages requiring public consultation.

Ministers will set the independent commission’s terms of reference for decisions in new national policy plans that confirm the needs of the country, and they have to pass democratic public and parliamentary scrutiny.

The prize is huge — a planning system with clearer national policy and a stronger say for local councils and local communities, but able to come to faster decisions on the big investments to meet the needs of the future.

John Healey, MP
Minister for Local Government

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