HC Deb 17 February 1988 vol 127 cc961-3
3. Mr. Riddick

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans his Department has to reduce planning restrictions in towns and inner cities.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. David Trippier)

We have a substantial programme of work to simplify and improve the planning system. In particular, we have introduced provisions for simplified planning zones by which general permission can be given for specified types of development in an area.

Six urban development corporations have been established in England to adopt a single-minded approach to regeneration of inner-city areas. Three more have been announced. All have development control powers.

Mr. Riddick

I am grateful for that reply, which clearly recognises the need to reduce planning restrictions in UDCs and special planning zones. Does my hon. Friend agree that the relaxation of planning restrictions should also be extended to towns and cities, such as Colne Valley and Huddersfield, which have no special status and where the planning restrictions do more than anything else to restrict and stifle the growth and prosperity of small businesses?

Mr. Trippier

That is why we have introduced 16 planning measures since the publication of the first White Paper, "Lifting the Burden", which contained a form of deregulation that will benefit the smaller firms to which my hon. Friend referred. The most notable of those measures is the extension to the general development order to promote exemptions from specific planning permission and the modernisation of the use classes order. There is no lack of recognition in the DOE of the fact that the planning constraints that affect the growth and enterprise of small businesses obviously apply outside the inner-city areas and in Colne Valley also. The 16 measures that we have introduced will help that process.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

Did not the report "Faith in the City" detail most objectively with the polarisation, poverty and decline in physical conditions in the inner cities? Is not the embarrassing nature of that report one reason why the country is having to put up with the vindictive and malicious attacks on the Church of England from the Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food?

Mr. Trippier

The hon. Gentleman will not expect me to comment on that specific detail. I clearly remember reading "Faith in the City". We recognise some of the problems that the report has identified, and it is relatively easy for people to agree about the nature of the problems. However, the solutions suggested in the document were, in the main, unacceptable to the Government. The Government clearly recognise the problems of the inner cities. Our policy on that point has already been outlined by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, and it will be developed further. That policy reveals our concern for the inner cities, and we will develop the policy to regenerate them.

Mr. Thurnham

While removing unnecessary restrictions on businesses, will my hon. Friend pay close attention to the existence of historic covenants and the strength of public opinion that supports them?

Mr. Trippier

Yes, Sir.

Dr. Cunningham

One of the most controversial proposals for inner-city redevelopment at the moment relates to the Chelsea football ground at Stamford Bridge. What has been happening about that? Clearly something very odd, funny and questionable has been happening in the Department about the proposal. On 20 November the Minister for Housing and Planning, in a written answer, said that it "would not be justified" to call in the application. Although the council has followed the proper procedures by notifying the changes to the local plan in public notices, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier), as recently as 11 February said that the Department had changed its mind and was calling the planning proposal in —[Interruption.] Yes, this is a very important matter and I intend to get it on the record.

Mr. Speaker

Order. Very long questions deprive Back Benchers of time.

Dr. Cunningham

Something very odd is going on in the Department of the Environment. There is a very nasty smell about it. The public, the people of Hammersmith and Fulham and the people at Chelsea football club and its supporters are entitled to know what is happening.

Mr. Trippier

The hon. Gentleman has made some disgraceful allegations and he deserves to be reprimanded for making them. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made it clear to the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Mr. Pendry) on 11 February that the planning application was notified to him as a departure from the Greater London development plan on 8 January.

Dr. Cunningham

That is not true.

Mr. Trippier

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will consider withdrawing that remark later.

I was obliged to consider the proposals afresh in the light of the council's view and the considerable number of representations received. In the light of the new information, my right hon. Friend concluded that the planning application should be called in for his decision following a local public inquiry. Obviously he cannot comment further at this stage, lest he prejudice his quasi-judicial function.

Mr. Redwood

Does my hon. Friend agree that public land hoarding, planning restrictions and the attitude of some local councils are still unduly restricting development in towns and cities where it is much needed? Does he agree that, as he tries to find ways through the red tape, he and the Department should reduce the over-rapid rate of growth in places such as Berkshire, which is picking up the tab for the failure in the cities?

Mr. Trippier

We have to try to achieve a balance in the Department of the Environment. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made clear earlier about development in the southern regions, which has certainly been higher than was previously expected, the Department must consider these matters with the planning authorities in reviewing development plans. However, I understand my hon. Friend's points.