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4 Apr 2003 : Column 1237—continued
Mr. Francois: I thank the Minister for his courtesy in giving way and for his kind remarks earlier. He is right that the Bill is not party political, but may I press him on a point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth) about the Elgin marbles? As the legislation is not retrospective, will he confirm for the record that it will not in any way affect the status of the Elgin marbles, and that that remains the position of Her Majesty's Government?
Mr. Dismore: The hon. Gentleman means the Parthenon sculptures.
Dr. Howells: I can confirm that the Parthenon sculptures, as my hon. Friend refers to them, would certainly not be covered by the legislation.
The hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam stressed the importance of international co-operation. Certainly, the more co-operation and co-ordination that we can get, the easier the task will be and, hopefully, the fewer the number of prosecutions under the Bill when it comes into force.
Among the other key recommendations of the ministerial advisory panel was accession to the 1970 UNESCO convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property. The convention makes provision to secure the protection of the cultural heritage of the United Kingdom and other signatory countries. People should remember that the convention protects our cultural heritage as well as that of other countries. The convention is not retroactive; it is applicable only to cultural objects stolen or illicitly exported from one state party to another state party after the date of entry into force of the convention for both states concerned. The UNESCO convention has been adopted by 93 countries to date, including in recent months Albania and Rwanda. Such widespread adoption enhances its value as a means of protecting cultural heritage in the UK and other signatory countries.
Mr. Dismore: On the subject of states, can my hon. Friend clarify the applicability of the Bill to the Crown?
Many of the bodies that may be dealing in art objects may be Crown bodies in one form or another. Some of the museums, for example, may be Crown bodies.
Dr. Howells: I do not know, but I shall try to find out for my hon. Friend. I am sure that he will have hours of play with that in Committee.
In completing the formalities of acceptance on 31 October 2002, the UK Government sent out a powerful signal both to those who do so much damage to the world's cultural heritage and to the international community that the UK is serious about playing its full part in the international effort to stamp out the illicit trafficking in cultural objects.
The need for a criminal offence is at the heart of the Bill. Action on the matter was considered too important to be left to the vagaries of private law, and a do-nothing option is not viable, nor is a mere amendment to the existing offences under the Theft Act 1968. Given the continued and continuing growth of the illicit traffic in cultural objects, experience shows that voluntary codes of due diligence are limited in their effect on the criminal element of the trade, which ignores them. The panel has advised, and the Government agree, that a pre-emptive measure such as the creation of a new criminal offence to counter the illicit traffic in unlawfully removed cultural objects is the best solution.
It is worth remembering that until recently, the UK was branded as an internationally renowned centre of illicit trade in antiquities. It is true that for the previous 30 years or so, the UK stood on the sidelines of decisive international action against illicit traffic in art and antiquities. However, today the British art and antiquities market is operating in a very different climate. Since publication of the recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in 2000 and of the ministerial advisory panel in December of the same year, there has been dramatic progress on measures to combat the looting of archaeological sites and the unlawful trafficking in cultural property. The Government have recently become a state party to the UNESCO convention and are working to introduce a package of measures designed to strengthen their treaty obligations, central to which is the creation of a new criminal offence of dealing unlawfully in cultural objects.
The Government acknowledge the wide-ranging support for the Bill across the House. That support cuts across party interests and across the often mutually exclusive worlds of archaeology and the antiquities trade. I am pleased to see that the Bill is endorsed by the all-party parliamentary archaeology group in its recent report on the current state of archaeology in the United Kingdom. Once again, let me say how pleased I am to offer the support of the Government for the measure. I commend the Bill to the House.
Mr. Allan: With the leave of the House, I thank all hon. Members who have taken part in this interesting debate and commend the Bill to the House.
Bill accordingly read a Second time, and committed to a Standing Committee, pursuant to Standing Order No.63 (Committal of Bills).
Needle Stick Injury Bill
Order for Second Reading read.
2.29 pm
Laura Moffatt (Crawley): I beg to move, That the Bill be read a Second time.
Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst): It is unusual, is it not, for a Bill to have such a brief introduction, but I am sure—
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): Order.
It being half-past Two o'clock, the debate stood adjourned.
Debate to be resumed on Friday 4 July 2003.
Remaining Private Members' Bills
HOUSING (OVERCROWDING) BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
To be read a Second time on Friday 20 June.
HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK (OFFENCES) BILL
Order read for resuming adjourned debate on Question [31 January], That the Bill be now read a Second time.
Debate to be resumed on Friday 20 June.
GOVERNMENT POWERS (LIMITATIONS) BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
To be read a Second time on Friday 16 May.
CROWN EMPLOYMENT (NATIONALITY) BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
The Solicitor-General, by Her Majesty's Command, acquainted the House, That Her Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Bill, had consented to place Her Prerogative and Interests, so far as they are affected by the Bill, at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the Bill.
To be read a Second time on Friday 13 June.
Rural Development
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
2.31 pm
Mr. Alan Hurst (Braintree): It is always a pleasure to speak in an Adjournment debate, especially on a Friday afternoon, when the House is normally so full. I am also grateful for the opportunity to raise what I consider to be a particularly important matter not only for the Braintree district, but for rural areas throughout south-east England and probably further afield.
The printed title of the debate is considerably wider than the matter that I wished to raise today. The original unabridged title was "The threat of speculative development in rural areas", which stemmed from events in my constituency and, in particular, the parish of Stisted. Stisted is situated a few miles from the town of Braintree, but it is an example of completely unaffected rural England. It is a small village that still retains a school, public house and church. In addition, there is a wide-ranging hinterland. The area is high-grade agricultural land interspersed with small woodland areas of oak and lime—the traditional woodland of eastern England, going back to prehistoric times.
It is the local wish and belief that the area should remain in that condition and local people are much exercised about what has happened recently. A farmer in the Stisted parish sold an allotment of land in the region of 50 acres in size. I am told that he believed that he was selling it for the purpose of grazing horses, but the price paid was above that of agricultural land. Soon afterwards, other events came along, but it is worth recalling that the land itself is adjacent to a nature reserve and close to other woodland, and is served by narrow, country back roads.
However, local people soon discovered that the modern age had intruded, as the sale of the land was being readvertised via the internet. It was being advertised not as one whole lot of 50 acres or so, but in small plots of up to one fifth of an acre. The internet parcels had divided the land into 236 individual plots and the asking price was between £3,000 and £6,000 a plot. It is estimated that the agricultural value of the land was £2,500 to £3,000 per acre. The interneted plot land value was about £25,000 per acre. Quite a tidy profit would be made if all the plots were sold. It is true that Gladwish, the company that offered the plots, did not pretend that the land had planning consent. The advertisement on the internet said specifically that the land was sold without planning consent and that the company's business and purpose was to sell agricultural and forestry land. However, it also said that agricultural land prices are lower than those for plots with planning consent, that land prices rise faster than house prices and that a solicitor was not necessary to complete the transaction. I do not think that I need to declare an interest at this point because that is a negative for solicitors, not a positive.
Stisted was not the only site that was advertised on the internet. Gladwish advertised sites in Sussex, Norfolk, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Bedfordshire, and I understand that other companies trade in a similar
way. Last month's Farmers Weekly ran an article on the problem in Norfolk and quoted a spokesman for Gladwish as saying:
- "It might be that one day some of these plots will get permission for development."
A spokeswoman for the Council for the Protection of Rural England said that
- "barbed wire and fence posts are appearing in very scenic areas"
The scheme reminds me of the champagne auctions that were held in our county some 100 years ago. Such events were a Victorian version of what we are seeing now, although there are several differences. Land developers would go out to the darkest corners of rural Essex and buy large tracts of land at almost give-away prices. They advertised the land in London, hired trains to take Londoners to the station nearest to the land, and offered a plot of land and a glass of champagne for £5. The whole of eastern and southern Essex was covered with plots that were marked out on maps. Some of the plots grew into towns; Basildon was a plot-land town long before it was a new town. If one looks at maps of some large areas of country in Essex, they are marked with plots, roads, and even with sites for public houses and hotels. However, the grass still grows as it did 100 or so years ago.
There is a fundamental difference between such auctions and the internet operation. The Londoners were brought down to see the land. They could make a judgment about whether to buy or not and they bought on the spot—with or without the benefit of champagne. However, it is believed that few people who buy land on the internet come to see it first. They buy it as a commodity.
Local people from the parishes of Stisted, which is in my parliamentary division, and Greenstead Green gathered at Stisted village hall a few fortnights ago. Greenstead Green is in the division of the right hon. Member for Saffron Walden (Sir Alan Haselhurst), which comes within a few yards of the site. Stisted village hall is not the Albert hall. Its dimensions are much smaller and when I entered it a little late because of another engagement, it was packed. It was standing room only; there were more than 200 people in the hall. When one considers that the combined population of
the parishes of Greenstead Green and Stisted is no more than 900, one begins to understand the proportion of people who were exercised by what was to happen.The sale of agricultural land carries with it a general development order, which allows the owners of any part of the land to fence it, construct shelters in connection with animal husbandry and go a little further if they claim that it is to be forestry land. People who bring a sheep on to their plot can construct a shelter for the sheep or themselves. The entire 50 acres could easily become a mosaic of caravans, camper vans and sheds in connection with pseudo-smallholder activities.
There was some concern at the public meeting about the speed with which Braintree district council could move. Everybody acknowledges that it moved with exemplary speed. In days, it laid an article 4 direction. I was not too familiar with that before the problem arose. However, once laid and approved by the Secretary of State, it prohibits any form of development on the land, including fencing and constructing shelters.
The direction has two parts. First, it prohibits the erection of fences, walls and temporary buildings without planning consent. That prevents the other feature of the modern age, the car boot sale. There is no 28-day provision for such use once an article 4 direction has been laid. Secondly, it prevents the use of the land as a campsite either for caravans or tents.
My praise does not extend only to Braintree district council. The Secretary of State, operating through the Government office for the eastern region and the appropriately named Mr. Speed, approved the order in seven days. Consequently, the residents of Stisted and Greensted Green feel that they have the best protection that the law can currently provide.
There is a problem that, once the plot holders realise that the land cannot be used for make-believe farming or forestry, it will become neglected and become a parcel of thistles, ragwort and other weeds, which can damage not only that land but neighbouring land and preserved and managed woodlands. The Weeds Act 1959 gives local authorities the right to take action if a landholder fails to deal with weeds, especially those that I mentioned. There is an obvious anxiety that the Act is not frequently invoked and that it may be expensive for local authorities to pursue up to 200 plot holders in connection with thistles and ragwort that are spreading beyond the land. Nevertheless, local action has halted the initial danger.
I bring the matter before the House for two reasons. First, I want to convey as loudly as possible a warning to those who skim the internet against buying plots of land unseen, without legal advice and local authority search. For the companies involved, the scheme has been a modern version of the south sea bubble. Large sums of money can appear to be made, but they can also be lost. Gladwish does not appear from its internet site to be losing money. I am not a frequent user of the internet, someone has to gain access to it for me so that I can see what it is. However, I have read that Gladwish boasts and brags that its sales rose from £92,000 in 1995 to almost £5 million last year. So it is not losing any money. Indeed, it makes a point of saying that it is continuing to make money.
For the Government to help as much as they can, they must alert local authorities as to the steps that need to be taken quickly to protect land when this problem arises.
These days, we have kits and packs for everything. A kit or pack might well need to be made available to local authorities by the Government, showing them exactly the circumstances in which an article 4 directive can be made, and how the process to make it takes place. Such information used to be contained in a Government circular, but these days perhaps it needs to be more detailed than that, and more readily available.In conclusion, unless the problem of internet sales is dealt with, the whole structure of town and country planning—particularly country planning—will become a shambles, just as those sites will do if they are left unchecked.
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