12/02/2012 Sunday Politics South West

In the South West: The Tories and the Lib Dems used to accuse Labour

of wanting to build all over the countryside. Now they're in the

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1697 seconds

Hello and welcome to the Sunday Politics in the South West. Coming

up: The publicans who say a new plan to crack down on problem

drinking could be the final nail in their coffin. Joining us for the

next 20 minutes, to offer their wit and wisdom, are the Liberal

Democrat Peer and former Torridge & West Devon MP John Burnett. And

Jude Robinson who sits in splendid isolation as the only Labour

councillor on Cornwall Council, an authority otherwise teeming with

Conservatives, Lib Dems and, being Cornwall, Independents and Cornish

nationalists. A local Government Sowry -- story that has broken this

week. Be deferred town council have been having unlawful sessions?

first reaction was am I going bonkers? We have Peers in the House

of Lords. One of our bishops says prayers. We have the same in the

Commons. If you do not want to go to Peers you do not have to go to

Peers. When the players are over you get on with business. --

prayers. I wonder how soon this will be over. I suspect an appeal

will be forthcoming. It is the same for us. There is always a resolute

bunch of the rebels who come in after the prayers are finished.

think we are called Old peculiar as. I think we probably do have the

right to set our own rules but surely it is open to every council

in the country to have peers questions Mark We will come back to

this in a minute. -- prayers? It's just a few weeks now until the

Government publishes its plans to reform the planning system. In

opposition both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats poured

vitriol on what they portrayed as Labour's plans to build all over

the countryside. Now they're in government they stand accused of

exactly the same thing. Among their more vocal critics are such

notorious firebrands as the Daily Telegraph and the National Trust.

Another, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, has now produced a

map showing the great swathes of countryside it claims are at risk.

Jenny Kumah reports. The Devon countryside. There are fears it

will be built upon. Here there is discretionary classification. It is

in away free for development. This man is the cheer of the campaign

for the Protection of Rural England. He says this area near Totnes will

be susceptible to rural development. Robin fears this will lead to

unchecked planning and development. In the old system there was a

priority for developing on brownfield sites before green field

sites. That seems to have been gotten rid of. Conservation groups

were also critical of the previous Government's top-down housing plans.

In more rural villages they are desperate for more affordable

housing. As things stand there is no scope for sustainable

development. The CPRE is among several organisations, including

the National Trust, that have spoken out against the coalition

changes. But Ministers insist their reforms are not about a choice

between the countryside and concrete. Our countryside is one of

the best things that makes Britain great and we will protect it.

New Planning Framework is due to be published by April and campaigners

know this is their last chance to get the government to think again.

As an organisation you had a goal at the Labour plans and you are now

having a go at the coalition's plans. What would you do to solve

this problem? I do not think it is as great a problem as is any doubt.

If you look at our website you will see all the planning applications.

Most of them are appearing on this and designated land. So they are

anticipating the change? I think they are. They are looking to get

planning permission where it is easier and I do not blame them for

that. What is happening of course now, so far as we can see, there is

not going to be at free-for-all. We want to see development but

sustainable development. There is no point in dumping a housing

estate on a village which has no infrastructure, no schools, all of

that. We would like to see local communities telling the that

authorities where they see the best place for this housing. Our prime

aim this year is to get affordable housing and one of the great

difficulties we face is because we have a big economic collapse at the

moment there is no money to be made in putting up new development sites

unless there is a high proportion of sites with open housing. I do

not think either of our guests would disagree with that. Let me

remind you of what some of your colleagues said in opposition.

Councils are being forced to identify ludicrously large amounts

of the mainland. Doesn't that look like the pot calling the kettle

black now? Perhaps it might do. We do not want a top-down system. What

we do need and recognised in office is that there is a huge housing

crisis. It is getting worse and worse. If I could remind you all

and you viewers that there are 185,000 households in the South

West that are on local housing waiting lists. We have a huge

department for housing. In 2010 103,000 houses were built and the

housing demand was something like 233,000. There is a massive housing

crisis which has to be resolved. It is incumbent on us to do it. We are

not going to build on an outright Greenfield's. We have the same some

were protections that had hitherto applied but we have to have some

level of the aim to achieve more house building. But their plan is

better than Labour's. Might worry is in Devon at the moment these

local rural communities just are not able to develop this new

neighbourhood plan to get in front of the authorities what they want.

I do worry that we will have a difficult time because the local

plan is going to be paramount. There are some area is which do not

even have a core strategy. Are you in favour of the idea? Of building

houses? I think there is a mismatch. Property developers want to build

houses but not necessarily for those people we want to house,

those who cannot get on the property ladder already. As you

mentioned with the local plans, a lot of local parishes and towns

have not set up to develop these plans but the presumption is in

favour of development. If the local community does not want development

it is up to them to prove why a development should not happen. That

gives much more power to the developer than local people. Before

we move on I should mention we have a link to the map of allegedly

vulnerable countryside on our Facebook site. So far 73 people

have joined us there, and If you'd like to help make up the numbers go

to facebook.com and search for BBC Sunday Politics South West.

Something else due out in the next few weeks is the Government's

Alcohol Strategy, proposing new measures to tackle the nation's

collective drink problem. In the meantime Ministers are already

considering a financial levy on licensed premises selling alcohol

after midnight. We sent Johnny Rutherford to the heart of

Plymouth's night time economy to see if anybody's raising a glass to

that particular idea. In the last year, 250,000 people across the

South West ended up in hospital as a result of booze. It's a figure

that's been going up for the last seven years. Now the Government is

thinking of a late night led the but some publicans think it could

ruin them. On the Barbican in Plymouth, Navy Inn's John Buckley

says it's yet another stealth tax to add to his problems of brewers

recently putting the price of beer up and probable charges for

improvements to his business district. The punter will have to

pay for these levies. The Levy is said to range between �200 to

�4,000. The top end being for big supermarket chains. The cash

collected would then be used on things like the clearing up costs

of alcohol related disorder and late night policing. Chris Unwin is

the landlord of three barbican pubs and a nightclub. He thinks he pays

enough already for these services. In our non-domestic rates we are

already paying for the police force. I am not happy we are being charged

twice for the same service. local residences say anything that

pays for more to be done to kerb the late night alcohol related

problems is a good thing. police are talking about cutting

officers on the beat. If you are a local resident ringing the police

and nobody is coming. You know a good establishment and a bad one

and where the problems are coming from, I think there should be a

levy if you are running an establishment in the early hours

which creates problems. You should pay that levy. But the Totnes MP

who's been campaigning for action on alcohol abuse says this idea

could damage pubs and fail to tackle what she sees as the bigger

problem. I think it is right that we see people who are contributing

to the cost of this picking up the bill. I think it should be a fair

reflection of the true cost on supermarkets who are selling ultra

cheap alcohol. Just because they are not selling it late at night

does not mean they should not be contributing to it. A significant

number of people are already arriving at clubs drunk.

government will publish its Alcohol Strategy within the coming weeks.

The consultation period for the levy is due to end in April. Is

this more proof that Labour was mad to change the licensing laws?

Extending the time people can drink is not helping. I do not think

changing the licensing laws was the issue but I think you are right

about changing the culture. More establishments can now stay open

beyond midnight. As the said in declare a lot of people are getting

drunk on cheap supermarket alcohol before they even go out. It seems a

shame to penalise pubs when actually going out to the local pub

is part of the social fabric that lanes people together in

communities. I welcome my Government's proposals to ensure

local communities have greater say on opening hours. I also welcome

action that is stopping lost readers so you are not going to be

able to sell alcohol at a loss. I am looking for something on

labelling and really curtailing the ability to buy if you are under the

age of 18. Some of the advertising is really over the top. There is a

lot of work to be done. Alcohol causes enormous problems. Hospitals,

crime, it is a huge expense to us all. Anti-social behaviour is

something that people complain to me so much about and so much of it

is induced by alcohol. What would you say to the allegation that a

lot of people are being tanked up on cheap booze and the publicans

are suffering? I think there is a real issue about her alcohol is

marketed. Instead of it being about a pint of beer with your friends or

a glass of wine with a meal it is about sweet fizzy drinks where

people get drunk very quickly without feeling like they are

drinking alcohol. That is something I think we have to tackle. The last

point is about education. I think that is so important. Right, we are

going to have to leave it dear. -- there. Now our regular round-up of

the political week in 60 seconds. By Torbay residents were outraged

that the local council will begetting its staff feed parking

permits. I wish I could afford to give my staff free parking

vouchers! In Dorset the police the authority decided to freeze its

share of the council tax. There is no where else to go except

operational officers and staff. then you keep they are calling for

a new criminal offence of urinating in the street. Not the kind of

things our MPs would enforce on our four-legged friends but they are

planning to introduce compulsory micro-chipping for all dogs. In the

House of Commons I tried twice to get this well over 20 years ago.

have been hearing a lot about public sector cuts. Everyone is

having a tough time. When councils are picking up parking charges is

this really the time to hand out free permits to their own staff?

does seem incongruous given some of the benefits of working for the

public sector. Average pay in the public sector is higher than in the

private and in terms of pensions. I am not aware of whether the three

parking permits are taxable but nevertheless it is perhaps

offensive to other people. I know that the staff at Cornwall council

have voluntarily had a pay freeze and reductions in their expenses.

They have done an awful lot to help the council save money and I do not

know if they get free parking permits but I would not begrudge

them a bit of help. And an new law addressing urination in the

streets? I think there are plenty enough laws to deal with that so

perhaps it is not necessary. This is particularly in Newquay, what do

you think? It is not something I have come across, I would have

thought anti-social behaviour teams would deal with such things. They