Planning Policy

: There should be an allowance for appropriate densities as far as possible and such decisions should, as far as possible, be taken locally by people acquainted with the local circumstances, not, as is the case in my constituency, by inspectors in Bristol appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister in London. I should also like to mention the materials from which streets are built. My local authority has just built a nice new pavement in Wroxall, but as in far too many places it is made from tarmac, with the kind of kerbstones that are seen in modern developments. It is inappropriate in a village. Such things need to be taken care of rather more carefully. In relation to local shops, the hon. Member for Colchester mentioned clone towns. I have not read the document to which he referred, although I have read press statements about it. There is a case for protecting and encouraging the development of more local shops in town centres. One way to do that is to adopt the policy, as some local authorities do, of allowing rate relief to non-chain stores, which has a cost attached but is within the capacity of local authorities. I was told of a case in Hinkley, where the local authority developed land that it owned specifically for local traders' occupation. That approach might be taken by means of a section 106 agreement, even on land that is not owned by a local authority. If we can get 40 per cent. social housing from house builders, perhaps we could get, say, 10 per cent. social shopping from developers of shops. Indeed, I recognise that in many cases some supermarkets that want to acquire a site in towns do that. I disagree most with my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury on the position of the supermarkets and the house builders, which are terrifying lobbies that wield enormous power. In the 1980s, Tesco, which funded the local government reception year in, year out at the Conservative party conference—