Clause 70
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Stewart Jackson (Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Peterborough, Conservative)
I have two concerns about the clause on sustainable development. We touched on the issue in debates on earlier clauses. I am concerned about the wording. The Campaign to Protect Rural England strongly makes the point in its briefing that the wording is not strong enough to be meaningful. The CPRE is making a value judgment between the previous objectives of regional development agencies—effectively to drive residential housing development and disperse significant housing numbers from central Government—and the wider remit of social and economic growth and sustainability. Therefore, we do not think that the wording in the clause is sufficiently robust and, on that basis, do not support it.
To be helpful, the Minister will also know that the CPRE made the sensible suggestion in its submission to the Committee that the purposes of an RDA, as set out in the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998, should be amended, so that it is required to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in all the work that it undertakes, rather than only
“where it is relevant to its area to do so”.
All members of the Committee will have received that briefing. For those reasons, we think that there is an alternative route for the Government to look at sustainability and sustainable development. We do not think that the clause’s current wording is sufficiently robust and, on that basis, do not feel disposed to support it.