Member

I urge Members to treat with considerable caution the frankly fallacious and misleading briefings in some quarters about this amendment. It does not make it easier to get planning permission to develop open space. The planning protections are unchanged. It is untenable to say that this is the same amendment, or even substantially the same, as the previous one. It is deeply layered with new safeguards, including a requirement to advertise so as to make good any previous failure to advertise the sale. To repeat: the discharge order may be made only if judged to be in the public interest. Only those with private interests that they wish to protect at the expense of the public interest can be worried about that. I beg to move.