Planning: National Policy Statements
I apologise for not being present at the start of the debate. As I explained to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I was engaged elsewhere on specific business for my constituents.
The 2008 Act represents all that is wrong with Parliament today. Had it existed years ago when my predecessor, Sir Bernard Braine, was around, he would not have been able to defend the people of Castle Point from dangerous industrial petrochemical operations on Canvey Island.
The people of Castle Point feel that the Act removes their democratic rights and protections. To say that they are deeply worried about the removal of their right to be represented in the House, and the right of their Member of Parliament to defend them again, as I certainly would, is an understatement. In fact, they are deeply angry about the Act, which is why I wholeheartedly support the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). We are indebted to him for his efforts.
There is a school only a few hundred yards from, and indeed some people live only a few hundred yards from, what the Health and Safety Executive described to me in a meeting this week as one of the most potentially dangerous operations in the country. It is a COMAH site—COMAH stands for "control of major accident hazards"—that is operated by Calorgas, which wants massively to intensify its use of the site.
The Health and Safety Executive is conducting a criminal investigation into a recent spillage of 163 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, which caused an unconfined vapour cloud. Had the cloud met a source of ignition, we would have experienced a Buncefield with bells on—a much greater accident with multiple tank involvement.
That is why, when planning decisions affect my constituents' lives—decisions that can blight their homes and community and affect their schools—they want to ensure that their representative can stand on the Floor of the House, as Sir Bernard Braine did before me, and defend their interests. That is why I will support the amendment.
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