Oral Answers to Questions

Alec Shelbrooke Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

It is right and proper that we should respect the lifestyle choices of the Travelling community, but that does not give them particular rights over other citizens, particularly among the settled community. This Government will introduce special rules to ensure that authorities that provide pitches for Travellers receive a top-up against the new homes bonus, but the planning rules must be blind to a person’s ethnic background.

[Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)]

18. Whether he plans to set the strategic housing land availability assessments of potential housing provided by unimplemented planning permissions against the five-year supply requirement.

[The Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark)]

I can confirm that, yes, councils will be able to use unimplemented consents in their five-year supply.

[Alec Shelbrooke]

I am grateful for that reply, but I urge the Minister to work closely with councils on publishing more guidance and setting out how to build a strong evidence base in order to include windfall sites, so that Leeds city council can stand up in the planning courts and use the 2.3 years of windfall supply as part of the current five-year supply, because at the moment, it is losing on every appeal.

[Greg Clark]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern. As he knows, I visited Leeds in recent days, and I believe he was returning from his honeymoon, on which all Members will, I am sure, wish to congratulate him. I understand the situation he outlines: having the ability to use these unimplemented consents will be a start, and I would be happy to meet him, now that he is back in such fine form, to continue the discussion.