§ Sir R. Gowerasked the Minister of Health whether he can state the number of counties which have taken effective action under the Town Planning Act to prevent ribbon development; and, if so, whether he will state what has been done in the different cases?
§ Sir K. WoodWherever a planning scheme is in course of preparation the interim development authority (which is usually the borough or district council, not the county council) is empowered to control development, and schemes are, at present, being prepared over three-fifths of the whole country in the areas of over 1,000 local authorities. I am not in a position to give details of what is being done, since this necessarily differs from case to case. I have, however, no cause to think that authorities in general are not exercising their powers as effectively as can reasonably be expected.