The government’s Localism Bill proposals could create a new, less accountable level of planning bureaucracy that waste infrastructure proposals will have to overcome, according to a leading planning lawyer.

Lisa Tye, a director in the planning group at Semple Fraser, which has offices UK-wide, highlighted plans contained in the Bill for local referendums on specific issues and for neighbourhood groups to have a greater say in planning as potentially impacting on the waste and recycling sector. And, she also raised the potential for the Bill’s plans to place a legal requirement on developers to run pre-application consultations for new proposals to make the planning process even longer, suggesting it could even lead to some consents being challenged. Ms Tye’s comments came as the Localism Bill passed through its second reading in the House of Commons last week.
 
The government claims the proposals will increase the role that local communities and councils will have in deciding on applications for new developments, but leading figures in the waste sector have already warned that they do not do enough to address the planning barriers faced by waste projects. Ms Tye suggested the Bill could have a “profound impact on developing waste and recycling projects by potentially creating another layer of community involvement in proposals. For the waste industry, used to dealing with controversial proposals and already facing the need to engage with local communities, the concern is that it will simply create a new more local and less accountable bureaucracy to overcome in seeking to get proposals through the planning process,” she said.

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