§ Dr. PalmerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the applicability and enforcement of county structure plans drawn up before the announcement of the Government's policy on the proportion of new dwellings to be on brownfield sites. [38956]
§ Mr. RaynsfordI refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck) on 1 April 1998,Official Report, columns 530–31. Section 54A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires all decisions on planning matters to be made in accordance with the adopted development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Government Planning Guidance has for many years required local authorities to make full and effective use of previously developed land for new development, both when drawing up their development plans and in deciding planning applications. The recent statement reinforces this position. There are at the moment no regional or local land recycling targets in development plans, although authorities will be working towards developing these in the next round of regional planning guidance.