Ministerial environmental watchdog the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee have attacked Government plans meant to speed up the planning permission process as ‘not detailed enough’ and called for the plans to debated in parliament.

Outlining their concerns in ‘Proposals for national policy statements on energy,’ the committee voiced particular fears over the way greenfield sites could be transformed into nuclear power stations.

The committee wants to know more about how the proposed Infrastructure Planning Commission would work and how it will enforce plans for Carbon Capture and Storage (CSS), nuclear waste and other CO2 reducing plans.

Head of planning at Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Fiona Howie, said the report exposed ‘unnecessary environmental damage.’

He said: “It is clear from this insightful report the Government needs to do far more work to avoid unnecessary environmental damage arising from the development of new energy infrastructure.

“The report rightly questions the Government’s claims that many new power stations are needed when enough capacity has already been approved to ‘keep the lights on’ well past 2020.

“It also echoes our concern that the new Energy National Policy Statements could undermine established planning policies intended to control damaging development.”

For more information go to the committees website by clicking here.

Luke Walsh

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