Housing and Regeneration Bill

This has been a long, complex debate because the amendment addressed three different but related issues. First, I shall turn to consultation and then address back gardens, green spaces and flooding. I made it clear at Second Reading—I do not think that Members of the Committee are in any doubt about our sincerity—that there is no way in which the Homes and Communities Agency will achieve its very ambitious, necessary targets if it does not work in partnership with local authorities. We have made absolutely clear that this is a condition of its success. Sir Bob Kerslake, who addressed us and sat in on one of sessions, is committed to making a success of it, because he is a very sensible man. The words of the amendment that: the HCA will, "““consult with, and have regard to the views of, the local authorities””," go without saying. Without that commitment, it will not be able to do its job. It is the key delivery partner and it would not be effective if it did not do that. In the vast majority of cases it will be dealing with in its relationships with social housing providers and local authorities, it will work through informal consultation as part of that partnership. The questions raised by the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, and the noble Lord, Lord Willoughby de Broke, have been specific and about a specific set of circumstances. I appreciate that they have taken the opportunity to raise them now. I shall try to reassure Members of the Committee. I have listened closely to the noble Lord, Lord Willoughby de Broke. I sincerely believe—I said this yesterday in the Chamber in response to a Question—that the concept of an eco-town is extremely significant and is not like anything we have done before. In our generation, we are facing the great challenge of building differently for our social infrastructure and communities, which must withstand climate extremes. It is not just a question of mitigation and how we build differently and protect our communities, but of, through eco-towns, pioneering ways to enhance biodiversity, our habitats and our ability to improve, not just withstand, climate change and what has happened to our environment. These are not satellite commuter towns. I appreciate the responses coming from different parts of the country to the challenge of having an eco-town identified. The invitation went out; we had 57 responses; and we made a judgment on which of those 57 were sustainable. The majority were rejected because they did not show evidence of innovation and sustainability. We are still at a very early stage. These are potential sites; we have to look at each of them to see whether they will deliver for the local community—not just whether they will show exemplary opportunity from which the country as a whole can learn but whether they will suit the needs of the local community. They must be something that the local community owns, is involved with and is committed to. The noble Lord will know that we are now consulting on the 15 potential sites—it is sites, not schemes, that we are looking at. That consultation is proceeding alongside an extensive sustainability appraisal and an attempt to draw out a policy statement that will be a planning document to determine whether the criteria that we want for eco-towns will be fully met. If they are not met at the final stage, the planning application will not be sustainable. It will have to meet the material consideration of the planning document, along with everything else, including the development plan. If a current development plan is not there because the LDF is not ready, the old plan will guide our judgment, as will the regional spatial strategies. The whole point about eco-towns is that they are part of the planning process; they are not extra to or alongside it. I heard what that the noble Lord said about how people feel that they have not been consulted in that instance; I hope that they have. Consultation is of the essence of our planning system and we prepare for it in every way. Consultation is built into all the different stages. It can take different forms. Bidders should be offering their plans in detail to the local community to be scrutinised, challenged and interrogated and local authorities should be doing their job of informing local people about the choice in front of them. That is the beginning of the process; nothing is a fait accompli. When those decisions are eventually made—I have no idea how many there will be, there could be five, none of us have any idea at this stage—there will be opportunities throughout the process for local people to have their say.