§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to change the law which278W allows a developer to dig a short trench which by doing so satisfies the definition of a specified activity and thereby enables that developer artificially to preserve a planning consent without undertaking any real development on the site.
§ Mr. ChopeThe Government have no present plans to amend the definition of a specified operation for the commencement of development given in section 43 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971. Local planning authorities have power to serve a completion notice under section 44 of the Act if they consider that a development will not be completed within a reasonable period.