HC Deb 16 May 1973 vol 856 cc1500-2
22. Mr. Dykes

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a further statement on the long-term protection of the Metropolitan green belt.

Mr. Rippon

As I said in my statement on the report of the inquiry into the Greater London Development Plan, we are determined to preserve an effective green belt around London.

Mr. Dykes

I am grateful for that general reply. Does not my right hon. and learned Friend agree that the green belt in the outer London areas is an essential part of the total environment and should be freely available to all members of the public? What proportion of inner London's immediate housing needs does my right hon. and learned Friend consider could be met by full-scale comprehensive development of London dockland areas?

Mr. Rippon

The question of what can be met by a comprehensive development of the dockland area is a separate one.

We must try to put this matter into perspective. We have added 70,000 acres of green belt to the 610,000 acres that already exist. Inquiries have shown that 2,000 acres of green belt might be available for housing where it has no other agricultural or amenity value. An area of 2,000 acres might provide 20,000 homes. It is not an answer to the problem, but part of a total package whereby we must meet the needs of the inner urban areas.

There is much force in the points raised this afternoon that there is always a tendency for people to rest an argument for not wanting council houses in their area on a green belt case that is not well founded.

Mr. Molloy

Will the Minister consider the new phenomenon which has grown up, certainly in the Middlesex area, in which a remarkable growth of warehousing seems to be taking place in what could be green belt areas? Is he prepared to examine the complaints of residents when they submit features which they believe ought to be examined by him and which are refused by the local authority? Warehouses seem to be taking precedence over all forms of industrial activity.

Mr. Rippon

In the first instance these arc matters for the local planning authority. If it allows a warehouse on what should be green belt land that is a matter for it to consider. The authority and other interested parties can make representations about what should be added to the green belt. When matters come to me I shall naturally bear in mind all the relevant considerations.

Sir Gilbert Longden

Is my right hon. Friend aware that nowhere is the green belt more precious than in the county of Hertfordshire, the population of which has doubled since the war? Is he aware that the county council, the Hertfordshire Society and all those who love Hertfordshire are against any further increase in the population, as is suggested for the expansion of Stevenage?

Mr. Rippon

That is certainly a factor to be borne in mind in considering the expansion of Stevenage, but if we do not expand Stevenage by a certain proportion we may have to consider 2,000 acres or so in the existing Metropolitan green belt. What we have to decide in trying to deal with the housing situation is where it is right to build houses, and very often difficult considerations have to be borne in mind. The land, however, must be provided from somewhere.

Mr. Lipton

To talk about releasing 2,000 acres out of 610,000 acres of green belt represents a derisory contribution to the solution of London's housing problem. Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman conduct a further investigation to find out how many more hundreds, if not thousands, of acres may be made available near London to solve the desperate housing problem of the inner London boroughs'?

Mr. Rippon

That shows the dilemma that one faces. The hon. Member calls it a derisory contribution and others call it an outrageous attack upon the whole principle of the green belt. Neither view is correct. It is one of the factors that should be taken into account in trying to deal with the considerable housing problem of the inner areas of our cities.