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Planning Bill

I shall be extremely brief. I did not speak on any of the amendments earlier, but, in a funny way, the Bill was a consultation on the process that we are going through. The Minister said that district councils have the ability to consult parish councils. Sutton Mandeville parish council is extremely active. When we were visited by a lady from the county council, after we had had the debate on the unitary authority in this House in which the noble Baroness and I took part, it was clear that no one on the parish council and no one attending the parish meeting on that occasion had been given any briefing at all either by the county council or by the parish council on the implications. It so happened that our particular district council was quite different in its make-up and behaviour from any of the other councils, so we were joining a body that was in fact quite different from us. No one in the parish had any idea of that happening until it was a done deed.