§ 33. Mr. Haymanasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many public inquiries resulting from planning appeals took place in Cornwall during each of the last five years; and how many have taken place during 1963, up to the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. CorfieldI regret that the information requested is not readily available. The hon. Member may care to have figures relating to decisions issued, which, with permission, I will circulate in the Official Report.
§ Mr. HaymanWill the Parliamentary Secretary say what is the trend of those figures? Do they show that there are fewer public inquiries now than there used to be? Will he take account of the fact that, as he knows from correspondence with me, there is great dissatisfaction at the refusal to hold public inquiries in some parts of Cornwall recently?
§ Mr. CorfieldIn so far as there are fewer, this is only a conclusion to be drawn from the last year. On the whole, the figures are very much the same as in the past. The number of appeals generally in Cornwall has probably been slightly higher than the national average, but this is true of most rural areas and the percentage of those successful and otherwise is broadly in keeping with the national average.
§ Following are the figures:
| Number of decisions on planning appeals relating to Cornwall | |
| 1958 | Figures not available |
| 1959 | 65 |
| 1960 | 91 |
| 1961 | 119 |
| 1962 | 104 |
| 1963 (January-June) | 55 |
§ Over the period, the proportion of decided cases in England and Wales in which a local inquiry was held has fallen from three-quarters to two-thirds.