Planning and Pollution: An Unusual Perspective on Central—Local Relations

Disputes between the pollution-control and land-use-planning authorities concerning air pollution from unpopular developments such as incinerators offer an unusual perspective on central—local government relations. Central government policy guidance, intended to clarify the boundary between planning and pollution controls over air pollution, was a central issue at the Shell Green inquiry after the local planning authority's refusal of planning consent for a wastewater sludge-processing centre. The success of the developer's appeal is discussed within the context of an emerging centralisation of decisionmaking over very unpopular land uses such as incinerators.