Planning Bill

They may say that, but the policy, under paragraph 2.11 of PPG2, enables local planning authorities, through their development plans, to set out policies allowing infill development if such development would not have an adverse effect on the character of the village concerned. That precisely meets the point made by the noble Lord. Of course, we cannot substitute our judgment for the judgment of local planning authorities in this matter, but PPG2 does provide precisely the flexibility that the noble Lords, Lord Reay, Lord Cobbold and Lord Jenkin, sought. Therefore, existing planning policy guidance meets their concerns. Furthermore, to help meet the specific needs of local communities for affordable housing, local planning authorities may set out a rural exception site policy in their development plan. Such a policy enables the authority to release small sites which would otherwise not be released for housing, within and adjoining existing small rural communities in the green belt, to provide affordable housing to meet local needs in perpetuity. So the person who buys the last house in the village and becomes secretary of the local conservation society might be in for a rude shock.