Planning — 2 Nov 1999

[Relevant documents: Tenth report from the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee, Session 1997-98, on Housing (HC495-I) and the Government's response thereto (Cm 4080); and Seventeenth Report from the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee, Session 1998-99, on Housing: PPG3 (HC490-I).]

I beg to move,

That this House regrets the growing divide between the prosperous and deprived areas of Britain; condemns the run-down of industry and the dereliction of inner city and old industrial areas; urges the Government to put in place better measures to encourage urban and industrial regeneration; vigorously opposes the idea that hundreds of thousands more people will be encouraged to move out of the urban areas into new housing on greenfield sites; further urges the Secretary of State to veto the South East plan for 1.1 million new homes, half on greenfield land, and to warn inspectors not to come to similar conclusions for other parts of the country; reminds the Government that there will be demand for new and better housing in the cities which they should help developers to meet by their planning and renewal policies; and stresses that sustainable development means limiting greenfield housing construction.

I beg to move, To leave out from "House" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:

"welcomes the Government's continued commitment to sustainable growth, safeguarding the countryside and promoting an urban renaissance; welcomes the establishment of Regional Development Agencies and the policies and programmes which have been put in place to improve the prosperity and quality of life of the regions and supports the targeting of regeneration initiatives in areas of greatest need; recognises that the Government's integrated, inclusive and strategic approach is encouraging urban and industrial regeneration; welcomes the Government's inter-linked policies for revitalising the UK's towns and cities and protecting the countryside; supports the Government's target for building 60 per cent. of all new housing on previously developed land and welcomes the new housing planning policy guidance which encourages "in town" brownfield site development first under a phased sequential test; supports this Government's approach to new out-of-town shopping developments; welcomes the Government's move away from the previous "predict and provide" approach to housing provision and the introduction of a "plan, monitor and manage" policy under the new regional planning policy arrangements, including Examination in Public and Independent Panel assessment; recognises the need for a more detailed evaluation of land availability and capacity and welcomes the establishment of a National Land Use Database; supports the Government's policies on protecting the Green Belt; and believes the Government's planning, housing, transport, countryside protection, welfare and economic policies will achieve more sustainable and equitable patterns of both urban and rural development."

Question , That the Question be now put, put and agreed to.

Question put accordingly, That the original words stand part of the Question:--

The House divided: Ayes 185, Noes 346.

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