Clause 38 - Sustainable development
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill
9:45 am
Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold, Conservative)
This large group of amendments concerns the definition of sustainability. I say in passing, as the Minister is about to leave the Room, that the previous debate was one of the most illuminating. When that happens, the Committee is working at its best, so I thank the Minister for his explanations.
The Opposition believe that the Bill should define sustainable. Many people have wrestled with such a definition, and we believe that it should at least be attempted so that we can measure the progress of planning authorities against that definition. We have received many representations on this question from many bodies. I shall go through some of those representations and some of the definitions that have been suggested, and say why we have chosen what I believe to be the best definition in amendment No. 256, which was proposed by the Town and Country Planning Association.
I start with amendment No. 221, a definition that I dreamed up from the Government's documents. It is a summary of amendment No. 256.
Amendment No. 372 was suggested by the Confederation of British Industry, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the British Retail Consortium, and it states:
''For the purpose of this section the meaning of sustainable development shall be defined in guidance to be prescribed by the Secretary of State''.
Everywhere in the Bill, we have guidance. I find guidance not to be the best or most democratic way to proceed. The Bill should be clear. I do not like the amendment. Sustainability should be defined in the Bill.
My hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet drafted amendment No. 359, which puts a much more positive duty on the authorities in parts 1, 2 and 6. I have a great deal of sympathy with my hon. Friend's
amendment, although I would like to see a proper definition in the Bill.
The Woodland Trust suggested amendment No. 327, which would leave out ''a view to contributing'' and insert ''regard''. The trust wants to ensure that sustainable development is placed at the heart of the planning system, and to ensure that effective protection of the environment and the integration of social, economic and environmental aims are central to the operation of the system. No one would disagree with that, but I believe that we have come up with a better definition.
Amendments Nos. 255, 364 and 226, tabled by the hon. Member for Ludlow, build on some of the definitions of my earlier amendment. If I may say so with great tact, I do not think amendment No. 226 is as good as amendment No. 256, which is a much more full definition. My hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet drafted amendments No. 371 and 353.
We come now to the meat of the Bill and what I believe to be the best amendment, should the Government be minded to include a definition in the Bill. A number of people over many years have wrestled with a definition of sustainability.