Clause 67
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]
11:30 am
Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall, Liberal Democrat)
The difference is that “contributing to” is fairly vague. One could contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in a fairly minor way and satisfy the provisions. The importance of these issues necessitates putting our proposals where we propose in the amendment and saying that the key purpose of any regional strategy is to secure sustainable development.
Definitions of the word “sustainable” are commonly accepted, including in the Sustainable Communities Act 2007. I would be far more comfortable and reassured if we included sustainable development as a primary purpose of the regional strategy, rather than saying, “The regional strategy is there to look at economic development. In passing, it may contribute to other issues.” That is just not good enough.