§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister when PPG7 was last redrafted; when he expects to publish the new draft of PPG7; and why a redraft of PPG7 is needed. [76666]
§ Mr. McNultyThe current version of Planning Policy Guidance Note 7 (PPG7),The Countryside, was published in February 1997, although some aspects of the guidance have been updated since. PPG7 will be replaced by a new planning policy statement (PPS) in line with the proposals set out in last year's Planning Green Paper, Planning: delivering a fundamental change, and confirmed in our paper, Sustainable Communities—delivering through planning, published on 18 July. We expect to publish a draft PPS7 for public consultation in 2003.