Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the protection of historic landscapes which have inspired literature from development.

The Government is committed to ensuring that our most important and cherished landscapes are appropriately protected so they can be enjoyed by future generations.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out how planning policies and decisions should recognise the character and beauty of the countryside, and local authorities are expected to protect heritage assets which can include landscape and setting of listed buildings.

It is open to local authorities to take the historic literary importance of a place into account in their decisions if they find that it is a material consideration.