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Planning Bill

I thank my noble friend for her generous remarks. Her very full response is characteristic of her commitment to taking us all on board. While the argument about democratically elected bodies being in the Bill is strong—a part of me of course responds to that—we do have a problem. The Government give specific responsibility to the park authorities to have the powers of planning for the area for which they are responsible. It may be that local authorities in the area of the national parks do not see things quite in the same way as the people who have been given the authority for doing the planning in that area. There is a gap. How does one get a full, thorough and proper consultation if the people who have been given the responsibility are not enabled, as of right, to put their arguments before those who are drawing up the national plans?