PLANNING DECISIONS effecting Tilbury Power Station have been taken back by the government.
In a major shake-up, schemes deemed to be part of the national infrastructure will be fast-tracked and decisions taken by ministers.
At the same time they are scrapping the independent Infrastructure Planning Commission, set up a year ago by Labour, to take exactly the same decisions.
Alongside any decisions regarding a gas-fired power station at Tilbury, projects such as the proposed 25-mile Thames Tunnel Project to carry waste water from the capital and giant wind farms off the Suffolk coast and the Isle of Wight.
Several road improvements will also go through the new system including the A21, from Kippings Cross to Lamberhurst, Kent, and the M20 access at J10A.
The Government argued that it was more democratic for the buck to stop with ministers, who are accountable to Parliament.
Planning minister Greg Clark told the Evening Standard that the IPC lacked “legitimacy” because it was an unelected quango.
“New infrastructure is critical to the country’s return to economic growth and we believe we must have a fast-track system for major projects — but it must be accountable,” he said.
“The previous system lacked any democratic legitimacy by giving decision-making power away to a distant quango on issues crucial to every community in the country.”
