Control of Office and Industrial Development Bill

Part of Ballot for Notices of Motions – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 April 1965.

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Photo of Mr Charles Curran Mr Charles Curran , Uxbridge 12:00, 14 April 1965

Will the Minister allow me to interrupt him? I appreciate the force of the argument he is making, but I should like him to consider one variation of the theme which I think he is overlooking. The case I have already quoted is the case where a new local authority requires to rent office premises. I have said that the Borough of Hillingdon has had to rent two lots of offices—one occupying 32,000 square feet and the other occupying 3,500 square feet. If this local authority is given permission to build, then in addition to the spectacle which it may be displaying of a lot of new buildings going up, there will be the countervailing spectacle, which I think will be equally pleasing, of premises being vacated. Would the Minister consider, where an authority requires to rent on this large scale, that this is an additional reason why it should be permitted to build, on the basis that by building it leaves other premises vacant?