Guildford's MP, Anne Milton, has quizzed the Minister for Planning, Ian Austin MP, over Highways Agency interference in local planning decisions.  The question was asked after concerns were raised about areas near the A3 that the Highways Agency manages.  
 
Ian Austin’s response showed that the Highways Agency “must be formally consulted on relevant planning applications….The local planning authority must consult the Highways Agency on any planning application for certain specified types of development, including access to a trunk road or near to certain highways or proposed highways.”
 
Anne Milton said:  "I think many people believe that decisions that are made by local councils override everything else. But not only can the Highways Agency delay a planning application being decided, it can impose quite a lot of conditions. There are instances when the Highways Agency can override the council. The Highways agency is not elected and as a result the decisions it makes create a democratic deficit."
 
Read the full Parliamentary answer
 

20th January 2010

Tags: Roads / traffic