Secretary of State Decides not to Call In Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (Harp)
Michael Gove, The Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities has today decided not to call in the planning applications by United Utilities Water in respect of the HARP programme.
HARP is a proposal to replace six existing underground tunnel sections of the 110km Haweswater Aqueduct. Two of the sections are located within the Ribble Valley.
In making his decision, The Secretary of State made clear that he had carefully considered the call-in policy and is happy for these matters to be considered at a local level. This re-iterates the Government’s commitment to give more power to councils to make their own decisions on planning issues.
The Chair of the Planning and Development Committee for Ribble Valley Borough Council, Councillor Sue Bibby, said: “The decision of the Secretary of State is very welcomed. He has scrutinised both applications for several months and concluded that such matters should be determined by the local planning authority. As a council we consider we are best placed to make our own planning decisions in the interests of our local area and our communities. The decision of The Secretary of State reinforces this.”
The decision letter is available to view on the Ribble Valley Borough Council website.