by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Localism could lead to more nimbyism, the Kent-based Freight Transport Association has warned.

The Government's Localism Bill, published yesterday, will give local councils more powers over planning decisions.

But the FTA, which has its head office in Tunbridge Wells, fears that would be bad for UK transport infrastructure.

It says that projects in the national interest may not be given proper consideration if planning proposals on schemes like rail freight terminals and truck stops are only considered at a local level.

Christopher Snelling, the FTA's head of global supply chain policy, said: "The rejection of recent freight terminal applications and the length of time it has taken for port applications to get decisions has shown that there is already an endemic failure in the current system.

"A more localised one is surely going to make this worse. Difficult decisions require objectivity which is something that this Bill threatens to undermine."

He added: "To make it work, transport infrastructure requires a joined-up approach that looks beyond the Not in my Back Yard interests of the few to those of the whole country."

The FTA vowed to campaign to ensure that "the knee jerk interests of the few do not outweigh those of the many."

Meanwhile, the CBI, the employers' organisation, said local councils could protect frontline services by using private sector providers, share back office and frontline functions, and open services to competition.

David Bowen, a membr of the KPMG public sector team in the South East, said localism was an important part of the Big Society jigsaw.

The Bill contained welcome pieces of fresh thinking.

"It is a relatively brave attempt to inject clarity and direction into a fiercely difficult area of policy and delivery," he said.