Localism Bill

My Lords, I am just about to cancel tomorrow’s debate—if it were in my hands, I probably would—because I think that we have had it. We have had extremely thoughtful speeches on very carefully thought through amendments. I shall start with two things. The first is to support entirely what has been said about the mischief that has been stirred up over the launch of the planning policy framework. An awful lot of the comments arrived before anyone had had an opportunity to see what it was all about, and the matter has gone from there on a steamroller to something that the Government now clearly have to pick up and deal with because there is so much misconception and misperception around that it cannot be left. The national planning policy framework is a consultation document. People who have thoughts and anxieties about it must let us know. Over the past weeks both in the other place and here we have given every demonstration that the Government and the department are listening and will make changes where they believe that is right and where there are representations with which they agree. We do not just stand by what is said in print. If we think that there is a case to be made, we are perfectly happy to talk about it and see what can be done. It is important to say this in this context because the national planning policy framework will be the blueprint for the future. Therefore, it must be something to which people by and large sign up. You cannot ““do planning”” to local people because people get cross, frightened and anxious about what is going to happen next door to them. They have to understand and be able to see how things are going to affect them. When the planning policy framework finally appears we will have to take account of the fact that it is a live document which people will study and that it will be relevant to local plans. As the noble Lord, Lord Deben, said in his amazing speech—I am almost on the point of giving up on mine—the local development plans and local development frameworks will be the most important aspect of planning as they will enable local people, neighbourhoods and neighbourhood forums to have plans which affect their small areas. This will form a protection as regards future developments. The protection will work in two ways. It will protect neighbourhoods that do not want something in quite the place that the local development plan is suggesting but that are required to do something about the matter. They can say, ““We do not want that development here but we could put it over there”” and that way they will be happy. We must also understand that, as the noble Lords, Lord Deben and Lord Lucas, have said, people in the countryside are crying out for some form of development which their children can afford. Within the Bill there is the community right to build. This is another aspect whereby local people can identify land and say that they would like a building or some housing built there and can themselves pull together the plans and projects to do that. Those people understand what affects their village and what affects them. The local development plans have plenty of scope to ensure that there is protection against inappropriate development or, if that protection is not needed, to ensure that appropriate development takes place. A great deal has been said about brownfield sites and derelict land. My right honourable friend Greg Clark has already made clear—in fact, the framework makes it clear—that sites of the lowest amenity and environmental value, which would include previously developed land, should be used as a priority. I do not think that we can say that any more clearly. That clearly covers brownfield land. Brownfield land is land that has been either previously built on or in some cases is contaminated land which has been left and must be decontaminated before it can be used. There is a clear understanding, particularly in urban areas, that brownfield sites should be used first where possible. However, that does not rule out there being other sites where there is a general consensus that development could take place. That is important. We have to be utterly flexible in what we do. We must understand that everybody has different priorities and that people in different parts of the country have different priorities. My noble friend Lord Marlesford started with an excellent speech, well supported by the noble Lord, Lord Judd, on protection of the countryside. I fully understand that. The amendment, which would add to what the inspectors have to take into account in considering a local plan, would add the requirement to take particular account of the countryside. He will be upset with me, but I am going to resist that slightly, not because I do not agree with it—I do agree with it—but because it is not relevant to the town or the cities. The countryside is not something which an inspector is going to take account of when developing the city centre of Bradford and to put such a requirement in legislation just makes it awkward and a bit tenuous to what we are talking about. However, it is well understood, the Government have understood it. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister and Eric Pickles tried at the conference to redress the damage that was originally done by the articles and the campaign that was fought that said that this was something that we were not interested in and were not protecting at all. Absolute nonsense. Most people in this country have some connection with the countryside. They know about it. Most people, as they fly in, realise just what a beautiful country it is. We do not want to see—and this Government are no different from Governments before—the countryside despoiled. We also do not want to see the development of the country and villages get frozen in aspic. I do not think that I can make it any clearer, first, that the presumption here is always to make use of derelict or developed land and secondly, that we must always—and these are together, not apart—consider the countryside to be extremely special. Another area on which there has been a lot of correspondence has been the assertion that we were going to let the bulldozers go in, drive all over the place and knock things down and let towns be built all over the place on the presumption of sustainable development. Let us be clear that the presumption only works and only comes into play where there is not a supporting development plan at the time, or the development plan supports the application. No application on anything that there might be a presumption in favour of can go through without the normal form of planning control. Any application will always go through the planning system. Most of us know about planning committees; we have all sat on them and we all know that local people are vigorous and vociferous when they do not want something developed. The presumption in favour of development will not stop that process taking place. Where there will be a presumption in favour is where there is no reason for refusing it—nobody objects, nobody is upset, it all seems to be quite sensible and straightforward—then, in order to stop there being too much delay, there will be an expectation that that plan will be accepted. We should not be too frightened of this: there must be an expectation that we can put vital new housing and new business in the right place, to help not only the housing of our people, but also the economic growth we need. I hope that there are no points I have not addressed. I am extremely grateful for the speeches that have been made on all sides, because they demonstrate a realisation of the position. I strongly urge that in our debate tomorrow we will recall and remember that this is a consultation, it is open to people to make representations about it, and it is absolutely clear that this Government will pay attention to that consultation. I know how strongly my noble friend feels about this so I say with some hesitation that I will not accept this amendment. I hope, in light of the explanation I have given, and if I can almost develop the passion on this matter that I heard coming from him and the noble Lord, Lord Deben, that he will feel able to withdraw the amendment, and we will look forward to him reiterating that tomorrow. If he does not, I know that what he has said and the way he has said it will be carried forward into the consultation and that the views he has expressed will be very firmly taken on board.