Planning Bill

My Lords, I warmly thank all noble Lords who have spoken. This has been an impressive debate and I hope that the Minister will acknowledge the significant expression of support for the proposed new clause from around the House. That, combined with the representations that have been made by the country’s leading heritage organisations, should, I still think, cause the Government to reflect carefully. I am extremely disappointed by the Minister’s response. I will study carefully what she has said, but I do not think that she has advanced the argument. She says that I know that there is nothing sinister in the Government’s position, but the question that I am driven to ask is: is there a technical problem with the drafting of the Bill, or is there a political problem? She assured us that the DCMS is solidly with the DCLG in approving of the Bill as it is currently drafted, but it is difficult not to suppose that other government departments and agencies are extremely unwilling to see any satisfactory protection for heritage standing in the way of their ambitions and their requirements for moving rapidly forward with the development of new infrastructure. We are not against the development of new infrastructure; we are against the development of new infrastructure casually bulldozing our precious heritage. That is my fear. I continue to believe that the protections that the Government are offering in the Bill are comparatively weak and insufficiently extensive. My noble friend makes the point that it would be a brave Minister who, having to bring regulations for affirmative approval before Parliament, dared to ignore the pledges that she has given on the record. There is some force in that point, but it remains the case that regulations are easily altered and that Parliament has little control over what regulations eventually do. I am also dissatisfied with what she said about parks, gardens and battlefields, because, as I said in my opening speech, government policy should be consistent. Government policy has been plainly declared in the Heritage Protection Bill and it is not right for the DCLG to disavow that Bill, which it seems to be doing. I will think carefully about what my noble friend has said and I will consult further. I hope that there may be an opportunity for us to have another conversation in an amicable spirit, but we may well have to bring this issue and this proposed new clause back at Third Reading. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 32 [Meaning of ““development””]: