Housing and Regeneration Bill

Yes, this is an interesting point. Perhaps we should fast forward to 1970 and the great Great Bentley referendum on the future of our village green. Yours truly was once pitted against his mother in a debate on whether we should have a village hall built on our common, Great Bentley village green. She lost the argument and I won, and no village hall was built on our village green. Subsequently, it was built on a village allotment. So this is an issue about which I have some strange historical knowledge. Great Bentley village green is the largest village green in England, as my mother always proudly told me, and has been protected since the time of the enclosures, to which the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, made reference. At the time, I did quite a lot of research on this. This amendment is extremely impressive and one which I rather enjoy. We should thank the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, for raising this issue because it is important. Our village green is 42 acres and has been there for well over 200 years. The village fought hard to protect its common land when enclosures took place, and rightly so. Today, the issues are different but equally as important. Clearly, the value of open space in any community is very high indeed. This debate is helpful because it enables us to tease out some of the important issues relating to the HCA’s powers over commons, open spaces and allotments. The Government and I share wholeheartedly the determination of noble Lords to ensure that these provisions are absolutely right, and I hope that what I say will not only demonstrate that but perhaps put some minds to rest. It will also give us a period of reflection in which to ensure that we have got right the read-across between different pieces of legislation. Amendments Nos. 54 and 66 tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, and Amendment No. 65 tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, provide us with this opportunity. It has been rightly argued that allotments, open spaces and commons should be subject to special protection, and attention has usefully been drawn to our earlier debates on commons. The Government agree about the need for protection, and the HCA will not simply be able to seize any land. It will be able to acquire land by agreement between the parties or by compulsory purchase, but only in support of its objectives. Moreover, if it is by compulsory purchase, the Secretary of State will have to confirm the compulsory purchase order. If the agency is compulsorily to acquire any land forming part of an allotment, open space or common, a different statutory procedure to the standard procedure will be used. The noble Lord, Lord Greaves, referred to the Acquisition of Land Act 1981, which is where the procedure is set out. It requires that a compulsory purchase order relating to the purchase of such types of land must be subject to a special parliamentary procedure that includes a public inquiry and the laying before Parliament of its findings. Allotments, public spaces and commons will remain subject to the highest form of protection in respect of compulsory purchase. As I have said, we are determined to get these provisions right, and it is fair to say that the amendments have prompted my noble friend and I to consider whether there might be a gap in our proposed legislation. The noble Lord made the case that that might be so, and while we do not necessarily share his view, we will double-check. We propose to take another look at the protection of special land in this Bill with a view to ensuring that we do not inadvertently create a loophole that could undermine the protection of such places. If the noble Lord is content to withdraw his amendment, we will come back to the issue on Report, although obviously there will be discussions between now and then. We will ensure that all the necessary protections are in place because we certainly do not want to undermine the value of commons, allotments and open spaces. My further recommendation is that if you run into trouble with a campaign, you should hold a local referendum. That always ensures the proper protection of commons. It is what we did.