Clause40
Commons Bill [Lords]
1:30 pm
Roger Williams (Shadow Minister (Rural Affairs), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Brecon and Radnorshire, Liberal Democrat)
I rise tospeak to amendment No. 106. The protection of common land and town andvillage greens is an important matter for all the reasons that havebeen discussed. For various reasons, it is sometimes difficult toprotect such land from inappropriate development. For example, theowner may be absent or uninterested in the land, or the land may be soremote that development can occur on it without the appropriateauthorities being aware of it from the beginning. It is for that reasonthat the Government have introduced this part of the Bill, which dealswith the protection of common land and town and villagegreens.
The intentionof the amendment is to make such double protection even more effectiveand efficient. Almost all of clause 40 deals with things that must beincluded in regulations, and we would like to add that the nationalauthority should alert the local planning authority of potentialdevelopments so that it can take action to ensure that a planningapplication is solicited if one is needed for the work, or at leastkeep an eye on the land on which the development isproposed.
The secondpart of the amendment, which would require the planning authority togive notice, would make the most of the double protection that theGovernment want in the Bill. I hope that the Minister sees fit toaccept the amendment so that the requirement can be included inregulations and make the most of the intendedsafeguards.
I drawattention to a golf course that appeared on Cilsanws common, which isin a constituency that neighbours mine. It is causing considerableproblems to the commoners and the people who live around the common.Somehow, it appeared without planning permission or permission undersection 194 of the Law of Property Act. My amendment may not befoolproof, but it would contribute in some way to safeguarding againstcompletely illegaldevelopments.
As theMinister knows, it is always more difficult for a borough, nationalauthority or local planning authority to deal with a development afterit has been completed, as they must go through the process ofenforcement, appeals and goodness knows what. It is better to deal withit before it happens, and my amendment would in some way contribute toa more effective process andsystem.