I am absolutely opposed to…

I am absolutely opposed to this. While development is important, it can't be at the risk of the environment. Allowing people who may have a vested interest in putting the environment at risk to make the decision to designate a special zone. No disrespect but any elected official would be in a direct conflict of interest in making such a decision. There's a process in place to make these decisions without causing undo harm. Sure, we all want these things to go faster, and perhaps there are ways to streamline it, but there have to be public consultations and we need to know that the people making these decisions are not in a position to directly benefit - and that includes especially elected officials who may be under pressure from developers (or, for that matter, environmentalists). It has to be a level playing field. Please rethink this.