Parsing the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Nick Herbert MP for Arundel and South Downs
Nick Herbert has told the West Sussex County Times :

We are not going to see house building all over the South Downs National Park, and the Minister [Nick Boles] did not say that there should be a relaxation of planning controls in parks, as press reports implied. He said that the parks should not become museums, and I agree with him about that.

I also agree with what the minister said about the need to express localism more fully in parks. I have always warned about the democratic deficit in national parks, which was reflected in the controversy over the South Downs National Park’s decision over to allow a travellers site at Crossbush.

It was the backbench MP who moved the debate [Simon Hart] who suggested that the duty to conserve parks should no longer be given primacy over the duty to secure economic well-being. The minister did not endorse this view, and it is not Government policy.

Ace Café Reunion Brighton Burn Up

Ace Cafe Reunion Brighton Burn Up
This Is Local London warns:

Motorists are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys if they are using the M23, M25 and A23 this Sunday (September 15), as tens of thousands of motorcyclists are expected to take to the roads. The mass convoy of motorcyclists will be travelling down from London to Brighton as part of the 20th Ace Café Reunion event. They are due to travel along the anti-clockwise M25 between junctions 16 and 7, the southbound M23 and the southbound A23. Ben Wates, from the emergency planning team at the Highways Agency, which is responsible for motorways and major trunk roads, said: “We are asking road users to plan their journeys and allow extra time as we are expecting the M25, M23 and A23 to be busier than normal.”