Our Work:

• RSS news feeds
• Enewsletter
• Briefing (Members only)

Print this page >

Below are our latest press releases and news stories on recent policy developments. Items can be filtered by topic and/or year, and by press releases or news items.

You can also view our recent newsletters The Briefing and sign up for our RSS Feeds.

News items are featured in our monthly eNewsletter, which is circulated to all of our members. Find out more about becoming a member of Environmental Protection UK.

IPC Applications Go Live | 2 Mar 2010

The new Infrastructure Planning Commission began accepting applications for major infrastructure projects yesterday.

So far, consultation has taken place on the National Policy Statements that will govern these decisions for Energy and Ports - and it is unlikely these will be designated until the autumn.

In the meantime, the Commission will make recommendations to the Secretary of State.

Environmental Protection UK believes the future of planning is still shrouded in uncertainty - with the draft National Policy Statements subject to severe criticism from planning and environmental lobbies.

Indeed,the future of the IPC itself uncertain in the event of a change of government.

David Cameron recently unveiled proposals to reform England's planning system. Launching theConservative's'Open Source Planning', green paper last month, Cameron said that he plans to scrap "unelected quangos" and use "open source democracy' and neighbourhood involvement to encourage sustainable development."

Read about the Conservative's proposals here

More information about the IPC applications here