The Lower Thames Crossing is the first major building project where a new scheme to cut environmental red tape will be put to the test, ministers have announced.The project, which will link Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent with two tunnels, is the first infrastructure scheme where a lead environmental regulator will be appointed.Under the new approach, Natural England will oversee all environmental safeguarding work, while other watchdogs with an interest – the Environment Agency and Marine Management Organisation – will give advice.The system is aimed at cutting the time it takes to meet planning permission requirements and approvals for environmental plans.It could also reduce costs, according to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).Issues blocking the tunnel’s construction can also be escalated to Defra’s new infrastructure board to resolve them.Appointing a lead environmental regulator to major projects was among the headline recommendations of the Corry Review, which has looked at how green rules could be reformed to stop new schemes from being blocked or bogged down for years.Ministers are expected to report back on how they plan to implement some of the other recommendations of the review on Tuesday.Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “Under the government’s Plan for Change, a new approach will see a lead environmental regulator appointed to smooth the system and keep projects firmly on track.”This means faster transport, energy and housing developments nationwide that will be better for the econ …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThe Lower Thames Crossing is the first major building project where a new scheme to cut environmental red tape will be put to the test, ministers have announced.The project, which will link Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent with two tunnels, is the first infrastructure scheme where a lead environmental regulator will be appointed.Under the new approach, Natural England will oversee all environmental safeguarding work, while other watchdogs with an interest – the Environment Agency and Marine Management Organisation – will give advice.The system is aimed at cutting the time it takes to meet planning permission requirements and approvals for environmental plans.It could also reduce costs, according to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).Issues blocking the tunnel’s construction can also be escalated to Defra’s new infrastructure board to resolve them.Appointing a lead environmental regulator to major projects was among the headline recommendations of the Corry Review, which has looked at how green rules could be reformed to stop new schemes from being blocked or bogged down for years.Ministers are expected to report back on how they plan to implement some of the other recommendations of the review on Tuesday.Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “Under the government’s Plan for Change, a new approach will see a lead environmental regulator appointed to smooth the system and keep projects firmly on track.”This means faster transport, energy and housing developments nationwide that will be better for the econ …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
