Oral Answers to Questions

Helen Goodman Excerpts

Monday 4th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

7. What steps his Department is taking to deliver planning reform for high streets.

[Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

18. What steps his Department is taking to deliver planning reform for high streets.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jake Berry)]

We are determined to support our high streets and we have consulted on a package of proposals. A decision will be made shortly about how best to proceed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jake Berry]

I said in response to an earlier question that I think the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s report is excellent, and we are considering it at the moment. I have sympathy with the local authority in Bedford and the challenge it faces with the closure of M&S, which is why I recommend that the hon. Gentleman, together with his local authority, makes an expression of interest in the Government’s future high streets fund by 22 March. The fund is designed to help areas to ensure that high streets remain at the heart of their community, which is exactly where they should be.

[Helen Goodman]

People who live in Spennymoor, Shildon and Bishop Auckland in my constituency feel that the decline in their high streets symbolises the fact that they are not listened to in general. So cannot the Minister understand that the proposal to bypass the planning rules on permitted development is exactly the wrong way to go? What we want is more involvement and more control for local neighbourhood communities.

[Jake Berry]

On a recent visit to Bishop Auckland, I had the privilege of visiting the hon. Lady’s high street. I am sure she would agree that the inspirational work taking place at the Bishop Auckland project, where a charity, in partnership with the local authority, is coming forward with an ambitious plan to regenerate the high street, is exactly what the Government should be looking to support as part of their future high streets fund. Although I am sure we are both passionate about Bishop Auckland, I disagree with her, because one way we can ensure that high streets thrive is to ensure that the free market can determine planning and that people are free to open shops in the sectors they see fit at the appropriate time.