"In areas like Mid Norfolk, planning is the key to avoiding developments that cause and exacerbate flooding. In Attleborough, a recent planning application for 350 houses on a floodplain was turned down by the council on the basis that it would cause flooding, but fast-tracked by the Planning Inspectorate on …..." George Freeman - View Speech
"10. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the floods resilience taskforce on future planning considerations. ..." George Freeman - View Speech
"I congratulate my right hon. Friend on becoming the first Muslim Home Secretary. Having worked with him, I know that there is no one better to sort out this mess. I also pay tribute to his predecessor, who did the very honourable thing.
That this House has considered town and village plans.
I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for being here and for his support in the past few days as we prepared for the debate, and I thank colleagues for turning up in numbers to intervene and …..." George Freeman - View Speech
"I absolutely welcome that and will in due course list some of the very good things that the Government have been doing to try to help. I am here today to flag a problem and offer the Minister some suggestions to try to help find a solution.
"My hon. Friend makes the very point that I will be making. This is about infrastructure and public services. A proper plan is not just about houses, but about the community, its needs, the public services, the infrastructure, the drainage and so on. Like many colleagues, I welcomed the Localism …..." George Freeman - View Speech
"Not for the first time the hon. Gentleman makes my point better than I. He is absolutely right that if we get this right, and if we trust people in communities and empower them, which is what the Localism Act was about, we will be surprised by what communities can …..." George Freeman - View Speech
"I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. We should look at the lessons from those garden towns. Many years ago, I fought the constituency of Stevenage—as colleagues know, it fought back—but Letchworth, the first garden town, is still regarded in that part of the world as a great …..." George Freeman - View Speech
"I am grateful to my venerable and right hon. Friend for putting that so robustly. I would not be here if I did not share that view. We all understand that we need houses built, and we all know that we need developers to do it, but there is a …..." George Freeman - View Speech
"My right hon. Friend makes the perfect point. He is absolutely right, and that is happening in my patch as well as in his.
I am conscious that others want to speak. I want to give them a chance to do so and the Minister a chance to respond. To …..." George Freeman - View Speech