§ 51. Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress is being made in the preparation of rural planning strategies by district councils in England.
§ Mr. ChopeDistrict councils for rural areas should include appropriate planning policies in their local development plans. Our planning policy guidance note on local plans, published in November, notes that large areas of the country still have no local plan and urges local planning authorities to make full use of this key component of the planning system. In rural areas new and updated local plans should reflect the Government's policies for fostering diversification of the rural economy.