An organisation representing around 22,000 people in town planning jobs has attacked the government's new draft National Policy Statement for Energy.
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has said that the current consultation paper for the statement, which is eventually set to dictate the terms in which proposals to carry out energy infrastructure projects can be passed, is not fit for purpose.
Matt Thomson, acting director for policy and partnerships at the RTPI, said: "It makes no attempt to translate the national need for energy infrastructure into guidance on where such development should be located and so provides no reassurance for either potential investors, or indeed local communities."
He added that the plans were too vague – simply repeating government policies rather than providing people in town planning jobs with a clear idea of where the UK is headed in terms of energy infrastructure developments.
Earlier this week, the RTPI also criticised the Conservative Party for labelling the planning systems as "broken".
