Housing and planning minister Alex Norris said ‘communities need to share the benefits’ of the UK’s move towards clean energy as he confirmed people living near pylons would get a £250 discount
Residents living near new electricity pylons are set to be given hundreds of pounds off their bills a year as part of an overhaul of planning rules.
Housing and planning minister Alex Norris told Sky News that “communities need to share the benefits” of the UK’s move towards clean energy. He said: “And if you know, if you’re making that sacrifice of having some of the infrastructure in your community, you should get some of the money back.
“So we’re making that commitment, £250-a-year if you are near those pylons. So we think that’s a fair balance between people who are making that commitment to the country themselves, well they should be rewarded for that.”
According to The Times, the discount will apply to families living within half a kilometer of new or upgraded pylons and above-ground transmission cables. The scheme will be funded by the energy companies and could also be extended to other projects including new onshore wind farms.
Mr Norris also said on Monday that official bodies that get a say in planning decisions are causing a “bottleneck” in granting applications. He said: “I think viewers might be surprised to hear that there are two dozen plus organisations that have to be consulted on planning applications that’s providing a bit of a bottleneck, often not getting back in time.”
It comes as major infrastructure projects including new roads, bypasses, railway lines and tramline s will be accelerated under a major shake-up to planning processes.
The landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which will be introduced in Parliament this week, will set out how the delivery process for critical infrastructure will be streamlined to boost growth. Ministers will also press ahead with reforms to current laws to speed up delivery and scale back bureaucracy.
Changes to the Highways Act will include new powers to allow temporary possession of land to speed up negotiations between developers and landowners for new roads and rail. It will also remove the need for secondary legislation for certain road schemes.
Reforms to the Transport and Works Act will include bringing in legal deadlines for decisions to be made by inspectors and the Secretary of State. The shake-up is expected to add billions to the UK economy, creating thousands of new jobs and reducing the length of travel by road or public transport. The changes will also support the government’s pledge to make planning decisions on at least 150 major infrastructure projects, including roads and railways, in this Parliament.
