New planning regime is good news - but can it deliver?

The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has welcomed the launch of a new “faster and fairer” infrastructure planning system that has the power to speed up the development of rail freight interchanges and other major development schemes.

From the 1 March, the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) took over the role of some eight previous planning systems, combining them into one, allowing for a more efficient and quicker planning process for large-scale transport projects.

Planning Minister John Healey said: "If we are to be competitive in the global economy and have a good quality of life, it is clear we need a better system for planning and building the infrastructure the country needs.

“The IPC will be a faster and fairer system that is important for delivering these improvements, and with up to £50bn worth of investment in the pipeline, is vital to help drive economic growth and recovery. It will also help meet our targets towards becoming a low carbon country, with a new generation of investments essential to the future of the country.

"The IPC will provide transparency and predictability for investors, and better opportunities for local people to make their case at every stage of the application and decision making process, including the opportunity to speak at open-floor hearings."

Maggie Simpson, policy manager for the RFG, said the new planning regime was good news but there were still questions over its effectiveness without a unified national strategy for infrastructure development.

She said: “The launch of the new planning regime for transport schemes is good news for the development of rail freight interchanges, which are vital for rail freight growth, but without the National Policy Statements (NPS) to drive the
reformed system, the expected benefits will not be delivered.”

“The NPS sets out the need for major infrastructure, such as rail freight terminals, and the factors that need to be considered in each individual application. The publication of the draft of the NPS for National Networks has gone back and back and it is now unclear whether it will even be published before the General Election.”

She went on to say: “Without this, planning inspectors will not have the information they need to make speedy decisions. RFG therefore urges the Department for Transport to publish the draft NPS as soon as possible, to ensure that the benefits from planning reform are delivered for rail freight.”

Healey also announced that Andrew Phillipson has been appointed as a commissioner to act as a decision-maker on infrastructure projects, as well as two non-executive directors, David Clements and Sheila Drew Smith.
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