§ 4. Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to ensure that planning consent is granted for the erection of a new country house in the place of another house which has been accidentally burnt down.
§ Mr. Graham PageI have nothing to add to the reply given to my hon. Friend on 11th November. As I then said, if he has evidence that planning authorities have not been exercising their powers with full regard to the circumstances of each case, I will be glad to examine it.—[Vol. 806, c. 180 1.]
§ Mr. KingCan my hon. Friend imagine himself in the situation where a house has been burnt down and, following that shock, the owner is refused permission to rebuild? Planning authorities have dictatorial powers which are usually used in moderation, but on rare occasions when they do something uncivilised it is no part of my hon. Friend's function to support them.
§ Mr. PageIf my hon. Friend will give me details of a case in which I can apply my imagination in that way, I shall certainly look into it. But there may in such cases be road improvements and public works pending which may make it reasonable to refuse planning permission for the reinstatement of a house. This procedure does not seem to have caused any hardship in its application. It is an important instrument for the preservation of the landscape of the countryside.