§ Sir L. Ropnerasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that restrictions on development for residential purposes in green belt areas can be circumvented by an application to erect a dwelling house for use in connection with the establishment and maintenance of a smallholding, with no guarantee that the smallholding will be developed after the house has been erected, or, if it is developed, that it will be retained with the house as a smallholding; and what action he will take to prevent such practices.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI am aware of this problem. In cases of this kind the local planning authority are entitled to refuse permission if they think that the proposed house is not needed for purposes of agriculture, or that the need for the house is not such as to outweigh the objections to building in a green belt. I have upheld a number of such refusals on appeal.