New clause 22 - Revocation of planning permission
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Matthew Green (Ludlow, Liberal Democrat)
Again, the hon. Member for Isle of Wight has highlighted a problem. The new clauses are not the way to deal with the problem, partly because new clause 22 does not set out any procedure by which someone might set out to seek revocation of planning permission.
I want to add yet another scenario in which misleading information might play a part in planning applications. In rural areas such as my own constituency, people often have to seek retrospective planning approval for activities that they claim to have carried out on a site for years—for example, the storage of heavy goods vehicles. If they can show evidence that they have been doing that for 10 years, they can obtain planning permission for it. Such situations come up more regularly than one might imagine. Those activities, which take place in farm yards but are something other than agricultural activities, are, in many cases, entirely genuine. In order to prove the case, statements are sought from other local residents, friends and so on, who say, ''We've seen Mr. Smith park his lorry there for the past 15 years.'' In effect, planning permission is granted on the back of statements.
It is not that I want to stop that approach. In many cases, those people have genuine rights to planning permission. However, I understand that in a minority of cases people write deliberately misleading statements on behalf of applicants. It is very difficult to prove in the long run, but we can surmise that there must be at least a few such cases. Nevertheless, planning permission may have been granted. If someone proves at a later date that the statements were entirely wrong, nothing can be done to revoke the permission. I can envisage other situations in which that may happen. I would like to see included in the Bill something to prevent people from making misleading statements that are then used in planning applications. I believe that it is not even against the law to write a statement saying, ''Mr. Smith has parked five lorries there for the past 20 years,'' and use
it to gain planning permission. The person would be committing no offence, as far as I can tell, even though the statement may result in serious financial gain for someone else.
I urge the Minister to consider the issue. I do not believe that it arises that often, but it clearly does arise. We have now heard of three different cases in which misleading information might be provided for planning applications.