Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Lord Hunt of Chesterton Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that. The consultation will be available within the next few months, probably by May, as will the response and the secondary legislation.

I rely, in my response, on the ability for local authorities to use Article 4 directions. It is perfectly reasonable for them to do so, but it is also reasonable for people who own houses to wish to extend them and to do so without having to go through the procedures of planning applications when the extension is relatively modest. I hope noble Lords will feel able—

[Lord Hunt of Chesterton]

Is there some limit to the height? In many gardens, the most important things are wind and lighting and you can occlude the sun in your neighbour’s garden. We are hearing an extraordinary speech. A neighbourhood is a set of houses, built and designed in a way that we all understood when we bought those houses. If one person wants to push out, all the other people will push out and it will have an extraordinary effect on neighbourhoods. This will be a social revolution. What survey did the Government do of people around the country? Did they just listen to some bureaucratic process? Have there been social surveys across the country? I do not believe there have been. This is a change to the whole British way of life. I have been a councillor and I have seen these effects.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, I have to remind noble Lords that we are on Report, not in Committee. As your Lordships know, we are a self-governing Chamber. As the Companion states, there are specific criteria we need to observe and we owe the Minister that level of respect in allowing her to finish her response. If noble Lords wish to push this to the vote, that is a matter for them. At this time, we are on Report and I would ask noble Lords to respect that.