Planning Bill

My Lords, there is very little that the noble Lord left unsaid, but I add my voice in support of this moderate and reasonably framed amendment. I am sure that we are at one on the importance of preserving our heritage. There is no issue there. In Committee, the Minister was at pains to assure us that she is passionate about design, and I am sure the same is equally true with regard to her attitude to preserving our heritage. The only issue appears to be how best to do it. From that point of view, I hope that she will be sympathetic to this amendment so that its mover is essentially pushing at an open door. All the amendment does is to apply to the new development consent regime the existing statutory protections for heritage that apply under the town and country planning legislation. For reasons that I do not entirely understand, they are disapplied by the Bill in relation to the new development consent regime for nationally significant infrastructure. I should have thought that the important thing is to achieve consistency between the two regimes—the town and country planning regime and the new development consent regime. That has already been stressed by noble Lords who have spoken. After all, heritage is heritage regardless of which route the planning application goes down. It is no less so just because it is dealing with a major infrastructure project. Indeed, it might be argued that it is all the more important to protect heritage when we are dealing with major infrastructure projects that can, if not handled correctly, constitute a bigger blot on the landscape—a greater eyesore—than smaller developments. I hope that the Minister will be able to see her way to accepting this amendment.