Planning Bill

The hon. Gentleman refers to community land trusts and the provision of more affordable housing. He is right that Cornwall has led the way on that. Indeed, there are some exciting schemes coming forward in my constituency. However, we would perhaps not need so many community land trusts if the houses that are already there were not being used as second homes. If that housing was available to be occupied by local people—people who are often on low incomes, but who have strong connections in the area—we would not need further development. However, of course community land trusts are welcome, and I share the hon. Gentleman's enthusiasm for them. In all those ways, local communities and local people are suffering the ill effects of the market not delivering in a way that meets the needs of that community. Local authorities do not have the tools to stand against the market and intervene so as to secure a future that their communities would like. Some process for discussing the use of use class orders would therefore be useful. A further example is Newquay in my constituency, where family hotels have become bunkhouses, which are used for events such as stag dos and end-of-term parties by people seeking cheap accommodation. The owners rip out the kitchens from the hotels so that they can put in more bunk beds. What was a hotel that was part of the community changes hugely, with late-night disturbances occurring. My constituents find that a problem. Again, however, there is no distinction between types of hotel in planning law. I would like a change in that respect. The Bill does not seem to be driven by that local desire to strengthen and enrich communities, but by a top-down commitment to dictate where houses can and cannot be sited and where, for example, nuclear waste dumps can be located. We have talked about communities with nuclear generating facilities in them. Those communities are used to the issues and can see what is coming, but we as a country still do not have a solution to the waste problem. People will look carefully at the Bill and at what it means for those debates. I would prefer a planning system to emerge from the Bill that gave greater opportunity to people at the local level and that encouraged them to participate in the planning process, in order to be part of shaping communities that are fit for purpose and sustainable. I am delighted to welcome the Sustainable Communities Act 2007, and I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd), who is in his place, for pushing it through. That Act will of course contribute to the process. I would like a Bill that reclaimed the word ““planning”” from the list of dirty words and made it synonymous with ““community engagement””. As it stands, the Bill does not do that. I hope that it will be improved as it moves through the House, although at the moment I remain to be convinced that it should continue in that process.