§ Mr. Michael J. MartinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish a working group including English Heritage, the Civic Trust and the Royal Institute of Town Planning to establish ways in which town and city shopping centres may achieve security from crime combined with good visual and aesthetic quality.
§ Mr. YeoThe type of security measures required to protect shops and the visual and aesthetic qualities which 439W would be appropriate are best considered locally, informed by local circumstance and need. The Town and Country Planning (Development Plan) Regulations, which came into force on 10 February, require local planning authorities to have regard to crime prevention when preparing development plans. Furthermore, my Department's circulars 1/84—issued jointly with the Home Office—and 22/88 provide guidance on the role of planning crime prevention. Local planning authorities should use this advice to establish local policies which combine the encouragement of effective security and good design.