§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr.Anthony Coombs.]
10.23 pm§ Mr. David Amess (Basildon)Basildon is against crime, but it would seem from tonight's proceedings that the Liberal party is in favour of it. Basildon, Basildon, Basildon. I wish that I had a pound for every time that its name has been mentioned, because of the number of times that people come up to me in the street and say that they can recall the Basildon declaration, which showed that there would a Conservative Government again.
That result pleased some people, but disappointed others. One such person was quoted on 7 April 1992, when asked about a survey, as saying that it
was a clear sign that Tories were running scared.He said:This is another indication that the people of Basildon are fed up with the Tories and want a change.I am confident Basildon will elect a Labour MP and that is the only poll that matters as far as we are concerned. That was my Labour opponent whom I defeated two days later. He was wrong then and he has been wrong ever since. Even on the night of the declaration, he refused to accept that there would not be a Labour Government.
I wish to share my thoughts about Basildon's past, present and future. I shall remain the Member of Parliament for Basildon until the general election, so I was astonished when I saw an advertisement in my local newspaper that showed a picture of the local Labour Member of the European Parliament and Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for the new Basildon constituency. The photograph had a picture of Big Ben and the House of Commons in the background and the candidate was described as "Basildon's parliamentary spokesperson". I do not know whether that is a new technique that is being deployed by prospective candidates, but it is misleading to the general public.
I shall be the first and last Member of Parliament for Basildon. When I was first elected in 1983, there were six Members of the House who had, at some stage, represented Basildon. If they were here this evening, they would welcome the opportunity that I am affording my hon. Friend the Minister to reply to this debate on Basildon new town, the plotlands and unadopted roads. Those Members were my noble Friend Lord Braine of Wheatley, my hon. Friend the Member for Holland with Boston (Sir R. Body), Sir Edward Gardner, Sir Robert McCrindle and Mr. Harvey Proctor. But it was only in 1983 that Basildon was constructed as a constituency on its own.
When the media were summoned to observe the 1992 election campaign, some of them were ill informed—indeed, misinformed—about the nature of the constituency. In reality, of course, they had been summoned by the Labour party to see the first Conservative Member lose his seat. It was clear in the articles that were written about Basildon at the time and for weeks and months afterwards that there was no great understanding of the town's history. It is not true that it is a concrete jungle. Its history goes back to the 1010 Domesday-book. There is a wonderful soul to Basildon that goes way beyond the inception of the new town's construction in 1952.
Plotlands have a fascinating history. They resulted from poor harvests in the 1870s and 1880s, coupled with imports of cheap American wheat. That meant that many English farmers were forced to sell their land. Essex, with its poor-quality soil, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Dr. Spink) can bear testimony, was severely affected. Many Essex farmers sold property to developers. My hon. Friend has several developers in his constituency, especially in Canvey island. Developers such as the Land Company of London in turn sold the land on in smaller plots to Londoners. The Londoners would travel there at the weekends and would take holidays in the plotland settlements. They travelled via the new Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness line, opened in 1888.
The plots were grouped into estates. Dunton Hills is typical and I am delighted to be able to tell the House that part of it survives today. Conditions were harsh—the estates were often without electricity, gas or sewerage. Even water was available only through a pump, served by a makeshift reservoir. Heat and light were provided by paraffin burners. To make life harder still, the majority of families on the estates did not have houses and lived simply in tents or wooden huts. After the first world war, many retiring service men moved to the country and spent their pensions on building small bungalows, but life remained the same. Indeed, I must draw the attention of my hon. Friend the Minister to the fact that, for many of the plotlanders, life still remains pretty tough.
Despite all those conditions, the families, for instance on the Dunton Hill estate, were happy to escape from what they perceived to be the grime of London to the exhilaration of the open countryside. Again, a number of the journalists who descended on Basildon in 1992 did not understand that it is a misnomer to describe Essex as a flat county. Westley heights, the highest point in Essex, is in my constituency and there is some beautiful countryside in my constituency and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point.
The hardships of their life, coupled with the fact that most of the families came from London, meant that a strong sense of community developed. People would help each other out in times of difficulty—very much the community spirit that I shared as a child with my neighbours in the east end of London. Families would work together on communal projects, such as the building of roads and fences—a main point of contention for the people living in the plotlands. At the end of the weekend, all those people would travel back to London on the crowded 8.38 to Fenchurch Street.
The strong community spirit became all the more pronounced during the second world war, when many people moved permanently to the country. Most of the men and women continued to work in London and would commute in groups of about 100, all leaving home at 6 o'clock in the morning for the long walk to Laindon station. The Dunton Hill estate did not escape the war unscathed and suffered at the hands of enemy bombers. There was also a prisoner of war camp in Laindon, and a generally friendly relationship grew up between the locals and the prisoners, who, I have been advised. Were 1011 occasionally allowed out and helped residents with various odd jobs. I have also been told that some of the prisoners later married local girls.
When the hostilities ended in 1945, most families remained on the estates. Many of the young men who left to fight in the war, however, stayed away to look for jobs elsewhere and the plots were left to an older generation. Many of those who were left behind found themselves increasingly unable to cope on their own and they abandoned their homes for smaller, better-equipped flats in the new town of Basildon. Nevertheless, to this day, some families remain in their original homes on the Dunton Hill estate—still without sewerage, street lights or electricity, but reluctant to leave the homes that they built some 60 years ago.
There are three areas where one can find plotlands in my constituency—in Laindon, which is the part that I have just described, just off Dry Street and in Bowers Gifford, Pitsea. The debate is perhaps a result of the representations made by people in the plotlands in that part of the constituency.
Bowers Gifford is a wonderful village in my constituency. As I address the House as the first and last Member of Parliament for Basildon, it is ironic that Bowers Gifford will fall within the constituency of Billericay after the next election. It is a remarkable village. For example, one of the local residents is Mrs. Hilda Westlake, whom I was privileged to welcome as a guest at the House of Commons a couple of months ago. At the age of 100, she walked up to the Public Gallery, observed our proceedings and later had tea with the Prime Minister.
Unfortunately, one evening Mrs. Westlake fell over in her bedroom, but I am delighted to tell the House that she is now the oldest person in the country to have had a successful hip replacement operation. She did not leave Orsett hospital on a Zimmer frame and her main concern, she told me, was how she would be able to organise the next whist drive in the local village hall. She is a remarkable lady and one of the local roads is named after her.
§ Dr. Robert Spink (Castle Point)I have met my hon. Friend's constituent—she is, indeed, a remarkable lady. I know her feelings on the subject and I should like to hear my hon. Friend's views on the fact that his constituency is being completely changed, yet the name is being left the same. Is that not anomalous and likely to confuse the public?
§ Mr. AmessSome might say that I deserve to have a tough time, but leaving the name unchanged means that I am open to having a tough time. It would have been more sensible to change the name to take in the part of Thurrock that the new constituency will include in future.
The plotland community is a wonderful group of hard-working people who have seen the new town grow up beside them and who have been paying exactly the same amount of council tax as everyone else in Basildon, but who do not receive anywhere near the level of services that other local residents enjoy. I hope that when my hon. Friend the Minister replies, he will tell me what powers the Department of the Environment has in that respect. I 1012 quote from the agenda for the meeting on 15 June of the housing committee of Basildon district council, which states that the council
has made the provision of quality services to its local residents a priority.That commitment certainly does not extend to the people of the plotlands and especially not to Bowers Gifford.A few of the properties have, it is true, been bought by wealthier families who have renovated them to a high standard. Many of those people moved to the area to escape the noise and stress of their working lives, or retired there. However, I have to tell my hon. Friend that the roads are of a very poor quality—I am not speaking only of gravel or bumps in the road—and there are many subsidiary problems, especially with waste disposal.
It might seem extraordinary to my hon. Friend, but nearly all those local residents have no main drains and have to use cesspits. There is a great problem with waste disposal. In certain parts of the plotlands, waste has to be burnt or carried to a tip. Where roads exist, they were often built by the residents—sometimes to a crude standard—and they are unadopted. I ask my hon. Friend to address that issue, either in his reply to the debate, or later in writing.
Sewers are a problem. Whereo sewers exist, they are private and that causes great expense to local residents. Only this week, I received a letter from a resident, which I shall quote briefly. My constituent writes:
we have a private sewer which was installed about 25 years ago, which serves 13 households up Cornwall Road. Last year we had to renew approximately 200 ft from the connection in Pound Lane in 4 in Plastic Pipe with three New manholes; this work was carried out under council order. This was necessary because of damage from lorries. This work came to £2,500.This was nothing to the cost of laying the sewer 25 years ago, if we were successful in having a new sewer, would this mean that the most expensive work has been done re. the connection into Pound lane?It would be nice if I could go to our 13 neighbours with some sort of cost to households.My hon. Friend will appreciate that any repairs to the sewers might be expensive for local residents, but many of them have no sewers.Will my hon. Friend consider carefully how we can help those who live on the plotlands? I am not suggesting that they wish to alter the life style for which they originally opted, which was created by the peace and the tranquillity of the countryside, but the least they can expect is decent roads and decent sewerage systems. I accept, however, that that is the responsibility of Essex Water and Anglian Water.
Many of the roads are also poorly lit. Tonight, I should like to pay tribute to three former councillors, Mrs. Carol Coombs, Mr. Bob Sheridan and Mr. Kevin Blake, who worked hard to help people in the plotlands. The problems encountered there are a matter not just for the Department of the Environment, but for Basildon district council and Essex county council.
I do not wish to be party political, but although I am a Conservative Member of Parliament, Essex county council is run by the Labour and Liberal parties. Over the past year, that authority has increased spending above its 1013 standard spending assessment to its capping level; increased the council tax by 6.4 per cent.; and reduced capital spending by £20 million. It has cut the fire and public protection budget by £1 million, by placing an embargo on the recruitment of full-time firefighters. It has cut spending on social services by £4.5 million, by accepting an underspend of £3 million, instead of putting the money into increased care for the elderly and infirm. It has cut the libraries budget by £1 million, by raiding the book fund for the first time in living memory.
Whatever the House may think about that, it is well known that the county council is sitting on huge reserves. It would be irresponsible for a local authority with small reserves to spend those sums and endanger the future of local residents, but surely no damage would be inflicted if Essex spent some of its huge reserves on trying to help local residents. Frankly, I cannot think of a better way in which to do that than by spending some money on assisting people living on the plotlands. I should be interested to discover my hon. Friend's powers in that respect.
It is primarily the responsibility of Essex county council, and not just that of the district council, to improve the quality of the roads, the arrangements for refuse collection and the quality of street lighting. Given the county council's huge reserves, my hon. Friend might consider the powers available to him to assist those local residents.
Tonight we debated the subject of crime. I am delighted to report that, according to the latest Essex police statistics, burglary in dwellings is down by 9.8 per cent., other burglary is down by 17.3 per cent., offences against the person—disgracefully—are up by 7.3 per cent. and car crime is up by 1.2 per cent. Criminality among plotlanders is apparently on the increase. Recently a car was driven into a hedge, spraying weedkiller over a garden. There has been illegal tipping, arson and all sorts of unsavoury activities, which local residents have drawn to my attention.
In conclusion, I wish that when those who are entrusted with reporting on our constituencies are given the task of writing articles, they would take the trouble to research an area well. My constituency has been portrayed inaccurately as a vast concrete jungle full of ill-intentioned people. That could not be further from the truth. The constituency that I represent, where I have been proud to live for 14 years, is a wonderful community. I always tell people that we have two miracles: St. Luke's hospice, which saves many people, and a miracle for animals—the Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society, where 60 horses, ponies and donkeys that were abandoned are being looked after. Both those institutions have been supported by local residents and mean a great deal to the people living in the plotlands.
We in the House look forward to the future—to the millennium and beyond. In my constituency, unemployment has fallen by 2,000 since the last election, education standards are improving, and I have shared with the House the fact that my oldest constituent has had a successful hip replacement operation. But we must not forget the past. A week ago, I stood in Dunton as David Bellamy opened our conservation observatory. I have celebrated various events with the people who live in the plotlands. I was taken to the Haven, one of the original homes. This evening I draw attention to the plight of those 1014 people, and I ask my hon. Friend to do all that he can to help Basildon new town and the plotlands. and in particular to help the people to get adopted roads.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Sir Paul Beresford)Every Adjournment debate with my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Mr. Amess) is a delight and tonight's was especially so. He used the opportunity to push in his usual emphatic way all the needs of the people whom he serves in Basildon. His shift, as he calls it, will be a sad loss.
The case that my hon. Friend made tonight has been made by him in the past, on paper and in parliamentary questions. Some aspects come as a surprise; if we did not have a debating point or three from my hon. Friend that contained a surprise, that in itself would be surprising. He covers a wide range of topics and it must be acknowledged that he has put Basildon on the map. Everyone in the country knows of Basildon, and I agree that they do not see it as it is.
The regeneration efforts, especially in the centre of the town, are bringing to the fore an aspect of Basildon that does not fit its media image as a concrete jungle. My hon. Friend mentioned the Dunton Hill estate, Bowers Gifford village and the plotlands. I shall have to study the technicalities that he outlined.
I had planned to present some of the history, but my hon. Friend has covered it completely and in more detail than I could. I can, however, confirm many of his points from my own research.
My hon. Friend mentioned the council tax. Setting that tax is, in the main, in the hands of the district and county local authorities. I am afraid that the type of local authority elected in the area, for the moment, is one that dips its hands deep into the pockets of local people. I understand why people living in the plotlands are concerned. I accept that they are not getting the services that my hon. Friend would expect and that they feel they are paying for.
The problem can be attacked in two ways. First, people may approach the valuation office and appeal against the banding of their properties in the light of the services that they receive. That approach might help to reduce their share of the total burden. The ultimate solution, for which my hon. Friend has pushed and will continue to push, comes at the ballot box. We hope for a change of political complexion.
My hon. Friend mentioned the adoption of the roads. I shall look into that; I know that it has also been raised with the Department of Transport, which is also considering it.
I shall take a careful look at waste and sewers. There have been some recent rule changes that may enable the water companies to pay for those services out of their budgets. There may also, I believe, be an opportunity for local authorities to do so—but I shall need confirmation of that, because the plotlands are unusual and not subject to the usual rules.
My hon. Friend said that some of the funding might come from the Lib-Lab county, which he said had huge reserves. I regret to say that, unusually for me, I did not check on the level of reserves; but, particularly if the reserves are unallocated, my hon. Friend should draw 1015 them to the attention of the district auditor. It would certainly be wrong to apply too high a council tax while there are huge reserves, some of which could be allocated, for example, to lighting.
This evening we have been discussing crime. I know from experience that better lighting can be a great help in crime prevention. Given this evening's sudden U-turns by 1016 the Opposition, I am sure that we could approach the Labour party in the area—although the Liberals seem again to be at sixes and sevens—and suggest using some of the reserves to improve local lighting.
I shall have to go away and consider the shattering list of items with which my hon. Friend has presented me this evening, but as ever I have enjoyed debating with him.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at eight minutes to Eleven o'clock.