HC Deb 17 December 1980 vol 996 cc273-4
3. Mr. Michael McNair Wilson

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what specialist advice is available to him for assessing the aesthetic quality of new projects under consideration by his Department.

The Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Michael Heseltine)

A range of advice is available to me depending on the nature of the particular project—for example, from the Royal Fine Art Commission and the Historic Buildings Council.

Mr. McNair-Wilson

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that far too many country towns and villages are being spoilt by housing projects, the design of which owes far more to the suburbs than it does to the countryside? When planning consents are allowed on appeal, to what extent is the Department able to monitor the rural quality of the housing that is intended?

Mr. Heseltine

I understand my hon. Friend's concern to ensure that there is the most exciting and innovative standard of design and also that, where traditional architecture is deployed, it should be of a high quality. However, I question whether it is in the broad sweep of policy that local planning committees or my inspectors should be involved in trying to arbitrate public taste as a superior factor to individual taste.

Mr. Chapman

I declare an interest as an architect, albeit a non-practising one. What criteria does my right hon. Friend use in judging the aesthetic qualities of a new building?

Mr. Heseltine

My hon. Friend will understand the difficulty of answering that question in precise terms. It is because I am anxious that we should not try to enshrine a standard of taste in public documents that I issued my recent circular. I believe that there is a responsibility on the Secretary of State, where major national projects are being developed, to ensure that there has been an opportunity for matters such as the quality of those buildings to be discussed widely. I have expressed my view that, in order to enhance the architectural quality of what we are building today—much of which in recent decades has, frankly, been abysmal—we should use public competitions so that there is a much greater incidence of appreciation of the need for extra quality.