§ 13. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will have the Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, industrial estate treated on the same basis as a Development Area.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftNo, Sir. The statutory benefits enjoyed by development areas only apply to areas scheduled under the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, and the situation in Stoke-on-Trent does not warrant scheduling the area under this Act.
§ 14. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will in future discourage the building of new factories on the sites of old potteries in the Stokeon-Trent area, and encourage the building of new factories for the manufacture of pottery and ceramics on the Longton industrial estate or between the estate and the new Wedgwood factory.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftAn Industrial Development Certificate issued by the Board of Trade under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, is normally valid anywhere within a specified local authority area. The Board does not exercise control over the precise location of the factory within that area. That is a matter for the local planning authority.
§ Mr. SmithDoes the Minister agree that, in this area, the finest pottery in the world is produced, beautifully decorated, and that, in view of the great contribution which this is making to the economy of the country, has not the time arrived when the whole environment and lay-out of that area should be made more consistent with the products which it produces?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI agree, at any rate, that this is the area in which the finest pottery in the world is produced.
§ Brigadier PetoIs my right hon. Friend aware that the finest pottery is produced at Barnstaple?
§ Captain PilkingtonIs my right hon. Friend aware that both hon. Members are wrong, and that the finest pottery is produced at Poole?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftMy hon. and gallant Friends will recognise the difficulty in which they have placed me.