HC Deb 23 July 1986 vol 102 cc336-7
11. Mr. Tony Lloyd

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the operation of strategic planning policies in the former metropolitan county council areas.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Richard Tracey)

Yes, Sir. My right hon. Friend is satisfied.

Mr. Lloyd

I regret that I shall not be able to bring Mrs. Hargreaves into this supplementary question. Is the Minister aware that in the Greater Manchester area a number of property developers are seeking to develop large shopping sites in the different boroughs? The problem is that each local authority has an incentive to ensure that it is not the last to allow such development to go ahead. As the Government have taken away the strategic planning role of the Greater Manchester council, what does the Minister intend to do to ensure that we have a co-ordinated approach to what could be a serious development problem?

Mr. Tracey

The local authorities must conform with the current local plans and, indeed, the Greater Manchester structure plan, the alterations to which were approved in January 1986. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it is not our practice to discuss current cases at the Dispatch Box.

Mr. Favell

I am afraid that I know nothing about Mrs. Hargreaves, but I know that we do not need a thumping great county hall to exercise overall strategic planning control. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment can do just that. Bearing that in mind, will my hon. Friend call in the seven planning applications for out-of-town shopping centres now being applied for in the Greater Manchester area, one of which is for over 1 million sq ft? At a time when we are trying to regenerate the inner cities, would it not be foolhardy to put our town centre shopping areas in jeopardy, and all the jobs that go with them?

Mr. Tracey

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will look at all material considerations before calling in any planning applications, but I repeat that we cannot discuss current planning applications at the Dispatch Box.

Mr. Skinner

Is Mrs. Hargreaves involved in these strategic planning policies? Is she a floating voter, and who will get her out of it?

Mr. Tracey

I fear that that has nothing to do with planning.