§ 11. Mr. SweeneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to curb the growth of large out-of-town retail developments.[25642]
§ Mr. HagueI shall issue shortly planning guidance recognising the importance of town centres, including a strong retail base, and encouraging development within town centres rather than at out-of-town sites.
§ Mr. SweeneyIn welcoming that statement, I express my gratitude to my right hon. Friend for visiting Cowbridge and for making an excellent speech at the Bear hotel on Saturday. During his visit, my right hon. Friend no doubt walked around Culverhouse Cross and saw for himself the congestion that is caused by out-of-town retail developments. I ask him to bear that in mind in bringing forward his proposals.
§ Mr. HagueI have seen a great deal of Culverhouse Cross and I was pleased also to visit the Bear hotel on Saturday. We shall set out a sequential test for new development in the new guidance: town centre sites where available, then edge-of-centre sites and, only when those 762 sites are unavailable, out-of-town sites. We shall also state that out-of-town food stores should not be allowed if they are likely to lead to the loss of general food retailing in the centres of smaller towns.
§ Mr. Win GriffithsI thank the Secretary of State for his reply, but we shall withhold our full congratulations until we have seen the details. Can he tell us the reason for the wasted years of the Wokingham regime? Was the change of mind due to his own policy initiative or has he sacked someone in the Welsh Office?
§ Mr. HagueI am sorry that the hon. Gentleman is withholding his full congratulations, but I look forward to receiving them in due course. In pursuing and putting together the planning policy guidance that will be published shortly, I have been developing the thinking of my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) and largely continuing what he originally intended. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will welcome the guidance when it is published.