HC Deb 29 July 1958 vol 592 cc1126-7
10 and 11. Mr. Whitelaw

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (1) what powers have been given to the Lake District Planning Board over the erection of private dwelling-houses in the Lake District National Park;

(2) on what grounds he decided not to allow the appeals made by Dr. Newall and Mr. Horn against the refusal of planning permission for the erection of two bungalows near Lake Ullswater.

Mr. Bevins

The Lake District Planning Board has the powers of a local planning authority under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, to control development including the erection of private houses. The bungalows in question were to be erected on conspicuous sites in an area of great natural beauty in a National Park. My right hon. Friend agreed with the local planning authority that bungalows here would damage the landscape.

Mr. Whitelaw

Whilst it is widely appreciated that the Lake District Planning Board serves the best interests of the Lake District, may I ask whether my hon. Friend is aware that in this case the Board overruled the authority concerned and flatly contradicted one of its own previous decisions? Is he also aware that the considerations which he has mentioned may have applied to two private individuals who were trying to erect bungalows designed to fit in with the scenic beauty of the district, whereas the same consideration did not apply to a public body which was allowed to erect cottages of a very ordinary design indeed in exactly the same area?

Mr. Bevins

It is true that the Lake District Planning Board delegates some of its planning functions to the rural district council, but it is perfectly entitled to overrule that council if it thinks that the latter is wrong. It thought so on this occasion and so did my right hon. Friend. As for the comparison with the Outward Bound buildings, I have looked at these two cases and I am perfectly convinced that, owing to the shielding of the Outward Bound buildings by trees and the difference in the contour, they are not offensive to amenity whereas the bungalows on the edge of the lake would have been so.