Labour vows to tear up planning laws to fast-track the construction of thousands of pylons across the UK 

Labour wants to tear up planning rules to fast-track the construction of thousands of electricity pylons across Britain.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves will today pledge to overhaul the ‘antiquated planning system’ and slash the time it takes to approve major infrastructure projects.

Ms Reeves also confirmed that Labour will look at lifting existing protections on green belt land as part of plans to ‘get Britain building’.

Sir Keir Starmer yesterday said he would make it a priority to ‘challenge planning laws,’ adding: ‘We have to get real about where we’re going to build.’

Ms Reeves will use her speech at Labour’s conference to pledge a ‘once in a generation’ reform of the planning system, which is aimed at speeding up decisions on infrastructure projects, such as battery factories, clean energy facilities and 5G telecommunication networks.

Sources confirmed this would include approvals for the thousands of new electricity pylons needed to deliver Labour’s radical net zero plans, which include making the entire electricity supply carbon neutral by 2030 – five years faster than current Government plans.

Sir Keir hinted at the move yesterday, telling the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: ‘I’ve said to businesses, look infrastructure, how long would it take you, for example, to build a wind farm? I’m told about two years physically, but about 13 years before we actually get any power out of it.

‘That means we’ve got to go at pace to deal with the planning that sits in the way of it, got to go at pace to deal with the grid which is far too slow.’

Experts have warned that hundreds of miles of new overhead cables and pylons will be needed to hook up new energy sources to the National Grid in order to meet the net zero plans.

In a bid to sugar the pill, Ms Reeves will say that communities which have to ‘host critical national infrastructure’ will receive ‘benefits, including lower energy bills’.

She will accuse the Government of presiding over a sclerotic system, which has seen decision times for major infrastructure projects increase by 65 per cent since 2012.

Labour sources cited the case of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station which is facing a legal challenge for failing to take fully into account the environmental impact of plans, despite producing a 44,000-page environmental assessment.

The Shadow Chancellor will say: ‘If the Tories won’t build, if the Tories can’t build, then we will. Taking head-on the obstacles presented by our antiquated planning system.

‘So, today, I am announcing our plans to get Britain building. A once-in-a-generation set of reforms to accelerate the building of critical infrastructure for energy, transport and technology.

‘To fast-track battery factories, life sciences and 5G infrastructure, and to tackle the litigation which devours time and money before we ever see shovels in the ground.

‘And to make sure that when a local community hosts critical national infrastructure, they will feel the benefits, including lower energy bills.’

In an interview yesterday, Ms Reeves said that even green belt land will not necessarily be safe from the bulldozer under Labour’s plans. She told The Sunday Times: ‘We want to take a common sense approach. A brownfield-first approach is right.

‘But we also need to look again at what is designated green and brown. No one has got anything to fear from this.’

Ms Reeves will also set a target of increasing business investment by £50billion a year by the end of the decade, which is the equivalent of £1,700 per household.