§ Andrew Selous (South-West Bedfordshire)I wish to present a petition from three small villages in my constituency, signed by 1,835 of my constituents, about the establishment of residential communities by travellers on non-residential land, without planning permission. It is a subject of enormous concern and upset to my constituents. It is also a matter of concern to me that the Government have had three occasions on which they could have tried to rectify the matter and have done nothing. They talked out the private Member's Bill of my hon. Friend the Member for Billericay (Mr. Baron) on this subject, and we had an Adjournment debate in the summer—
§ Madam Deputy Speaker (Sylvia Heal)Order. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that a speech is not appropriate on this occasion.
§ Andrew SelousI am coming to the petition itself, but it is a source of concern that opportunities to do something about the problem have not been taken.
1031 The petition reads as follows:
To the House of CommonsThe petition of the residents of Billington, Stanbridge and the surrounding areas, Declares that the law is inadequate to prevent Travellers setting up residential communities on non-residential land without prior planning permission, and that specifically, the petitioners are concerned about the extreme speed of the recent development on Stanbridge Road, Billington, Bedfordshire.The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to change the law relating to the unlawful use of non-residential land by travellers who set up residential communities without planning permission, and give local authorities new powers to enable them to halt such unauthorised development more easily.And the petitioners remain, etc.To lie upon the Table.