New clause 1 - Planning permission for high hedges
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
2:30 pm
Ms Yvette Cooper (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Pontefract and Castleford, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point, although obviously the most passionate stories are often those where the hedges are growing close to people's kitchens, and where that is having an immediate impact on people's lives and their enjoyment. He is right that the approach taken in the Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) was to ensure that his legislation could deal with a range of circumstances.
We have examined the issue addressed in new clause 1 in considerable detail, and we were keen to do something about it in this Bill, if an appropriate way could be found. However, it has proved too difficult. New clause 1 is the wrong approach, but we shall continue to consider the matter.
The hon. Member for Isle of Wight referred to the remarks of my noble Friend Lord Bassam on the Anti-social Behaviour Bill. We are considering this issue very seriously. The term ''antisocial behaviour'' is an appropriate way to describe the problem that we are talking about. This is about neighbours being a nuisance to one another, and it can be far more
destructive and more of a harassment to people's lives than a neighbour playing loud music or a teenager who puts graffiti on the fence opposite a house. Antisocial behaviour is not just about young people on low-income estates, but about the middle-aged middle Englander who will not lop the leylandii and leaves his poor neighbour to suffer as a result.
We are sympathetic to the points that have been raised about the Anti-social Behaviour Bill, and we are examining the issue closely. As we have maintained throughout, we are keen to get legislation on to the statute book. We will respond to the House of Lords on the Anti-social Behaviour Bill very shortly—within the next few days. There will be further opportunity during the planning Bill, perhaps on Report after the Queen's Speech, for hon. Members to have further discussions if they are not happy with the way in which the Government have responded to the House of Lords. However, given the difficulties of approaching this issue from a planning point of view and our strong interest in considering further the antisocial behaviour element and other possibilities for taking action as rapidly as possible, I ask the hon. Member for Isle of Wight to withdraw his new clause.