HC Deb 04 March 1987 vol 111 cc862-4
6. Mr. Andy Stewart

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will meet members of the Nature Conservancy Council to discuss the draft circular on planning and agricultural land.

11. Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received about his new draft planning circular; and if he will make a statement.

15. Mr. Pawsey

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he has received from the Countryside Commission to his draft circular on planning and agricultural land.

The Minister for Environment, Countryside and Planning (Mr. William Waldegrave)

The Countryside Commission welcomed the draft planning circular in a press release of 11 February; the chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council welcomed the package of measures, including the extension of environmentally sensitive areas and farm, forestry, which my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced at the same time. The formal consultation period on the circular continues until 10 April.

Mr. Stewart

I welcome my hon. Friend's answer. Will he say that, when he meets the Nature Conservancy Council, he will reassure it that there will be no change in the Government's green belt policy?

Mr. Waldegrave

Yes. My right hon. Friend and I have been making that crystal clear in recent days to the Nature Conservancy Council, the Countryside Commission and anybody else who may ask. Since the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) is present in the Chamber, I should say that I have seen another report today in the Daily Telegraph saying Labour will build in Green Belt. My hon. Friend should be addressing his question to the Opposition, who are clearly proposing encroachment on the green belt.

Mr. Adley

Is my hon. Friend aware that overdevelopment is the overriding political concern of most of my constituents, certainly, most of those who live in south-east Dorset? Is he aware that the test of the Government's intention will not be speeches and ministerial directives, welcome as they are, from my hon. Friend and his colleagues, but the contents of the circular? Will he give an assurance that the changed policy will provide unequivocal legal guidance to inspectors in his Department to give environmental consideration the highest priority when determining appeals?

Mr. Waldegrave

Yes. I am delighted to reassure my hon. Friend, who has a great interest in these matters, that my right hon. Friend's draft circular says, for the first time, that the overriding privilege given to agricultural land as productive agricultural land now has to be replaced by a balance between the needs of the economy and the needs of the environment itself. Surely, in modern times, that is the correct balance. It is difficult to deal with such casually, badly edited and misleading comments as were heard, for example, on the introduction to the Nick Ross phone-in on BBC Radio 4 yesterday, which was a completely misleading and shoddy account.

Mr. Pawsey

Is my hon. Friend aware that the circular will be regarded as a major step forward, particularly in rural areas? For the first time it establishes the primacy of the environment, which will do a great deal to reassure small companies and businesses that are being set up in some of our rural areas, specifically within former farm buildings that are no longer required.

Mr. Waldegrave

My hon. Friend is right. His point of view is echoed by the chairman of the Countryside Commission, who made the same point in a press release. We have to look at the economic health of the villages and small towns and at the conservation of the environment. That is the balance we need to keep.

Mr. Hardy

Since the principal motivator of change was supposed to be the agriculture surplus, particularly the cereal surplus, will the Minister discuss with the Nature Conservancy Council the weakness in the Government's position, which is demonstrated by their apparently complete disregard of grade 1 and grade 2 agricultural areas, where the surplus is produced, and where the landscape features and hedgerows have been largely obliterated?

Mr. Waldegrave

I think that the hon. Gentleman is a little out of date. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has completely changed the whole grant structure in those regions. Grants can now be obtained, for example, for the replacement of traditional hedgerows and so forth. My right hon. Friend is now developing schemes for the planting of farm woodlands. Those proposals must be welcomed by the hon. Member for Wentworth (Mr. Hardy) and other hon. Members.

Mr. Livsey

When will the Minister be able to make a more detailed statement on agricultural land and planning? What is he doing to safeguard the position of county structure plans?

Mr. Waldegrave

The hon. Gentleman may not be aware of the procedure. Under the procedure, a draft circular is produced for comment. If the hon. Gentleman would like to read the draft circular he will find all the detail that he needs and perhaps he might then like to comment on it.

Dr. David Clark

In his discussions with the Nature Conservancy Council on the proposed draft circular, will the Minister take the opportunity to raise the threat to the site of special scientific interest in the Black Mountains which is currently threatened by the spraying of herbicides? Does that not prove the point that it is more important to get our present land use system in operation correctly rather than to rush ahead recklessly with further threats to the countryside?

Mr. Waldegrave

The hon. Gentleman's point is a long way from the draft planning circular. However, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 proper procedures are in place for the protection of SSSIs, which I know that the hon. Gentleman supports. There is no question of our recklessly charging ahead. The hon. Gentleman would be rightly critical of the Government if, against the changes in the agricultural needs in the country, we did not bring forward sensible policies for alternative land use and for the health of the rural communities. He would be right to criticise us if we did not do that.

Mr. Ralph Howell

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Norwich health authority has turned down four possible sites for the new hospital on the grounds that the sites are of high agricultural value? Is that not an absurdity?

Mr. Waldegrave

It is impossible for me to comment on a particular application from the Dispatch Box. However, the point of my right hon. Friend's draft circular is that we must now balance the needs of the environment for its own sake against the needs for particular development and not give overriding and automatic privileges to agricultural production.