HC Deb 06 March 1962 vol 655 cc179-80
5. Mr. M. Stewart

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what action he will take concerning the grant of planning permission for the extension of Richmond Hill Hotel, in view of the fact that the application for this permission was supported by a certificate containing a material error concerning the ownership of the land in question.

Mr. Rippon

My right hon. Friend has considered the circumstances of this case, but has come to the conclusion that no action on his part is called for.

Mr. Stewart

Apart from the many unsatisfactory features of this case, are the Parliamentary Secretary and the Minister aware of the general principle involved? An applicant, from an incorrect statement of facts, can get planning permission which would never have been granted had the true facts been known, and the permission may be very valuable. If permissions granted on incorrect statements are to remain valid, is not that an encouragement to carelessness by applicants and may not it even be an encouragement to dishonesty?

Mr. Rippon

It is certainly true that an error in a certificate does not invalidate a planning permission—or so I am advised. If there is a wilful distortion in the certificate, there are powers to prosecute. If planning permission, having been given, is found to have been given wrongly it can be revoked. In this case my right hon. Friend is satisfied that the borough council acted properly.

Mr. W. Griffiths

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in 1947 this area was designated as a residential zone? At that time there was one more hotel than there is now, yet the Minister goes on saying that we must accept the use of this area for what he says it is—an area where hotels are predominant. How does he reconcile that?

Mr. Rippon

I do not think that I can now go into the merits of a particular application. The point at issue here is that the applicant made an error originally on the certificate which he attached to his application.

Mr. Stewart

Are the Government satisfied with the legal position, that permission can remain valid when based on an error of fact? I know that if it is a deliberate distortion a prosecution can follow, but the only result is a fine which may be small compared with the profitability of the permission which has been incorrectly obtained.

Mr. Rippon

I think it quite normal to allow errors of fact of this kind which take place not to invalidate the actions either of individuals or of public bodies.