Planning Bill

The hon. Gentleman makes a point that other hon. Members raised during the debate, and he is right. My constituents would say that they want a planning system that takes account of their opinions and needs. They may have a local authority, which has done a good job in the local development process of trying to involve people through the means available. However, we should ask ourselves how many people in our constituencies know that that process is going on, how many respond and how many feel that their comments will be considered. I would like the Bill, and the things that may be added to it as it progresses, to provide for giving a greater variety of tools to local communities through their local authorities to listen to opinions and reflect needs. Cornwall is deemed to be part of the south-west. The regional spatial strategy process is even more remote from people, yet in many ways more crucial because the local development framework has to match the priorities set by it. We therefore have a process whereby an unelected regional assembly—I support elected regional government; I happen to believe that Cornwall by itself is an elected region, but that debate is for another day—makes important decisions. From visiting parish councils and talking to people at all sorts of forums in my constituency, I found that they were unaware of the importance of the regional spatial strategy and of what role they should play in trying to influence it. The Bill's provisions to grant new powers to local authority members through appeals panels are a more welcome development, and I should like them to be explored further. An alternative vision is perhaps that of the parish plan process, which I have witnessed at first hand in my constituency. It is all about local communities coming together and setting priorities for the future. It works effectively in a rural area, and I accept that other hon. Members may have a view about how well it works in more urban areas. However, the process encourages me to believe that we need not fear the spectre of nimbyism. In a place such as North Cornwall, where people might be expected to fear housing development, many rural communities have found the evidence, through the parish plan process, that they need extra housing. They have thus reached a view that they would like more housing, especially affordable housing, in their community. We have the rather odd position whereby the local authority must, as part of the regional spatial strategy process, argue for more housing. Perhaps people in the south-east would find that odd.