Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

It is not for me to thank my noble friend for that guidance, because it is not my amendment, but I find her words extremely powerful and very reassuring. I, for one, welcome them. I find them so powerful and reassuring that I cannot for the life of me see why the point cannot be included in the Bill. If something is as important as my noble friend has described this as being, the sensible place for it is in the Bill. I make two observations. One is that Clause 69 is entitled ““Community involvement””, but I do not see in the wording much illustration of that dynamic of community involvement. It is all rather formalistic and bureaucratic. It would be helpful to spell that out in a bit more detail at this point. I emphasise that I am very much with local authorities in their reservations. I raise my concerns about national parks in that context. The other point that I make to my noble friend—it is not the first time that I have made it in Committee on Bills of this kind—is that, if I am allowed to say so as a long-standing Member of Parliament, I often reflect that in reality it is not possible to separate the legislation from the intention and spirit of the Ministers at the time. What may be very important to Ministers at one time will not necessarily be there in spirit for ever. In these realms, it would not be impossible to have some centralist maniac or cultural charlatan coming in who says, ““Oh, that was in some damn letter, but it is not actually in the Bill””. In the end, letters lose their significance. From that standpoint, I hope that my noble friend will be able to consider the point a bit more fully, because it need not be the Government’s ideological position to resist it; that could be a very positive step and generate a lot of good will. In the context of those points about the general provisions of the amendment, I emphasise the special significance of the national parks, on which the Government have been splendid. I happen to know from personal experience that my noble friend is second to none in her commitment to those parks. I hope that the Government will not just slam the door but will, after our deliberations, give a little more thought to what is involved in this part.