Clause 45
Planning Bill
10:15 am
Bob Neill (Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Bromley and Chislehurst, Conservative)
The amendments deal with a concern that was raised by, among others, the Campaign to Protect Rural England. It has also been raised with me by a number of practitioners in the field of planning inquiries. The giving of advice is of itself a reasonable, sensible thing. Provided that pre-application discussions on planning matters are transparent, it is sensible to encourage them because they can iron out difficulties, avoid time being wasted and prevent excessive costs. It is also important to ensure that advice is available to interested parties. Increasingly, it is important to recognise the need—