§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the occasions on which he has used discretionary powers to(a) revoke and (b) challenge planning permission for out-of-town or edge-of-town retail developments since 1990, giving the date in each case. [864]
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesNone. The revocation of any planning permission is rare. Slightly more usual is for my right hon. Friend to call in for his own determination certain planning applications which are required to be referred to him. An application cannot be called in once permission has been granted. An application for retail development in Alnwick, Northumberland, was not referred to my right hon. Friend and was granted permission in 1993, These circumstances will be examined at a local public inquiry and my right hon. Friend will then decide whether to invoke his powers.