New clause 1 - Planning permission for high hedges
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
10:30 am
Mr Matthew Green (Ludlow, Liberal Democrat)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on having suggested the new clause. I was one of the named supporters of the Bill championed by the hon. Member for Ealing, North. The only problem with the most recent of the failed Bills—in his potted history, the hon. Member for Isle of Wight mentioned three, but I think that there have been five in recent years—was that the hon. Member for Christchurch talked it out. Fortunately, he is not on this Committee, which is welcome if we are to debate the issue as that gives us an opportunity to legislate on it without having certain Members talking out a measure that has the overwhelming support of Members of all parties. It may be only half a loaf, but it is a good half loaf. However, I have been on too many Committees in the past few years to believe that the Minister will accept it as it stands. I suspect that she will say that she will consider the matter and possibly return to it, but that may not be enough. It is usually done to suggest that something should not happen.
The Minister may have been advised that the Bill is not the appropriate vehicle for this issue, but it is likely to be the most appropriate that we will have for a very long time. We have seen the problems with private Members' legislation, so unless the Minister knows something that she cannot tell us such as that an appropriate Bill might appear in the Queen's Speech—I suspect, however, that the Government may have more pressing priorities than a high hedges Bill—she will be doing the House a disservice if she does not take this opportunity, because I cannot foresee when the next one will arise for incorporating such a proposal in Government legislation.
I fully support the new clause. If the Minister picks me up on any technical drafting errors—the other reason that Ministers use to reject new clauses—I suggest that with all three parties working together, we can rapidly find ways of reintroducing it on Report. It would take very little time on the Floor of the House to do that. My only regret is that in this instance, it has been introduced by a Member whose name is not quite
as appropriate to the subject as is that of the noble Baroness Gardner of Parkes. For the sake of posterity, I wish that it had been her Bill, as that would have made it one of the most appropriate Bills that could ever have been invented.