Derek Wyatt (Sittingbourne & Sheppey, Labour)

What recent changes have been made by his Department to planning policy guidance affecting rural areas.

Ian Austin (Minister of State (the West Midlands), Regional Affairs; Dudley North, Labour)

No recent changes have been made to planning policy in respect of rural areas.

Derek Wyatt (Sittingbourne & Sheppey, Labour)

May I bring to my hon. Friend's attention the fact that Kent science park has recently been allowed to extend on to green land? That was done with his Department's knowledge and before the transport analysis had been done in respect of exit 5 of the M2. Will his Department do some joined-up thinking, so that transport is taken into consideration before more is done on green land?

Ian Austin (Minister of State (the West Midlands), Regional Affairs; Dudley North, Labour)

I know that my hon. Friend is working hard to represent local people and raise their concerns on the issue. The local authority needs to consider the proposal in line with its development plan and other material considerations in the usual way.

David Heath (Somerton & Frome, Liberal Democrat)

I wonder whether the Minister will answer the question that the Secretary of State ducked twice, which is this: why is the south-west spatial strategy, which has been roundly condemned up and down the peninsula and which has now gone back to the drawing board, still being used in guidance as a basis for planning in the rural areas of the south-west?

Ian Austin (Minister of State (the West Midlands), Regional Affairs; Dudley North, Labour)

I think that the Secretary of State gave an excellent reply.

David Taylor (North West Leicestershire, Labour)

I would not want to tear the Minister away from Dudley at a weekend, but will he come the short distance up the M42 to North-West Leicestershire to meet me, Mr. Steve Leary and the Minorca open-cast protest group to look at the impact of the application on the eastern fringe of the large village of Measham? He might then give a different answer from the one that he gave to question 3 a moment or two ago.

Ian Austin (Minister of State (the West Midlands), Regional Affairs; Dudley North, Labour)

I would be delighted to visit my hon. Friend's constituency and listen to what he has to say in more detail.

Stewart Jackson (- Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Peterborough, Conservative)

On 11 July 2007, the Prime Minister told the House:

"I assure the House that we will continue robustly to protect the land designated as green belt."—[ Hansard, 11 July 2007; Vol. 462, c. 1450.]

The day before, his official spokesman told the Lobby:

"We are not proposing any changes to our very robust protection of the green belt."

Why then are regional spatial strategies, which are signed off by Ministers, currently deleting the green belt across the whole country?

Ian Austin (Minister of State (the West Midlands), Regional Affairs; Dudley North, Labour)

That is nonsense. We have not changed our policy on the green belt and we have no plans to do so. Green belt has actually increased by 34,000 hectares since 1997, while 80 per cent. of development takes place on brownfield land. The hon. Gentleman should be telling his constituents and the rest of the country why the Conservative party has adopted a policy that is anti-growth, anti-housing and anti-doing anything to get us through this recession.