The Cabinet has approved sweeping new planning powers that will allow nationally significant infrastructure projects to bypass local planning committees, in what Downing Street is calling the most radical reform of the planning system since 1947.
Under the new framework, projects deemed to be of "critical national importance" — including energy infrastructure, transport links, and major housing developments — will be fast-tracked through a new National Infrastructure Consenting Authority.
"Britain cannot afford to spend a decade debating whether to build things the country desperately needs," the Prime Minister told the Commons. "This is about choosing growth over stagnation."
The reforms have provoked fierce opposition from environmental groups and some backbench Labour MPs, who argue that the measures undermine democratic accountability and could lead to environmentally damaging developments being rubber-stamped.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the government of "centralising power in Whitehall at the expense of local communities," though critics noted that similar proposals had been floated during the Johnson administration.
