§ Mr. David HeathTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his policy on major developments in(a) the area of national parks and (b) areas of outstanding natural beauty in respect of the provisions of paragraph 3.21 of PPG7. [158389]
§ Ms Beverley HughesPPG7 makes it clear that major developments should not take place in national parks save in the most exceptional circumstances. Such developments will need to demonstrate that they are in the public interest before they proceed. All such applications for development are subject to rigorous examination and will be subject to the specific assessments set out in paragraph 4.5 of PPG7. The Government have made it clear that they expect the same considerations to apply for proposals for major developments in areas of outstanding natural beauty.
Paragraph 3.21 of PPG7 indicates that new house building and other new development in open countryside, away from established settlements or from areas allocated for development in development plans, should be strictly controlled. But this paragraph also includes policy which would exceptionally allow individual isolated new houses to be built in the countryside if the proposals were of the highest quality and truly outstanding in terms of architecture and landscape design.
The Government believe that there is a need for more affordable housing in rural areas, and do not see the current planning exception for isolated large dwellings which may be built in unsustainable locations as consistent with that priority, or with its objectives for the countryside more generally. We therefore intend to consult on amendments to PPG7 to remove the exceptions policy which allows such large dwellings to be built.