§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what use is made of section 65 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 by local authorities in tidying up the environment;
(2) what encouragement is being given to local authorities in general to use section 65 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971;
(3) what encouragement is being given specifically to inner area local authorities to use section 65 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 as a replacement for the widespread use of corrugated iron to hide derelict sites.
§ Mr. Guy BarnettSection 65 is available for the abatement of serious injury to the amenity of any part of an authority's area arising from the condition of any garden, vacant site or other open land. Local authorities were reminded of it in DOE circular 109/77 as 479W one of the measures available in the enforcement of planning control, and in the normal course of liaison with authorities it figures as appropriate among the solutions that can be adopted for certain environmental problems, which could include those arising over the kind of sites the hon. Member specifically mentions.