Town and Country Planning
Now that the Town and Country Planning Bill has reached the House of Lords, after a somewhat stormy passage through the Commons, it should become law this Session. The need for the Bill is all too obvious. As Lord Crawford said on Monday, the large landowners who, as a rule, used to care for the amenities of their estates are passing away, and the local authorities must take their place and be given powers to take it effectively. If not, the eye-sores which disfigure parts of our coasts and many country districts, and not least the new arterial roads, will grow and multiply to the national discredit. Probably the Lords will amend the Bill, Landowners,
already hard hit by taxes and death-duties, fear lest the Bill should depreciate the value of their property and cause the local rates to rise. It would be worth while to placate their opposition by a few concessions. For when once the Bill becomes law, it will soon be recognized as bene- ficial both to the individual property-owner and to the public. None but the reckless speculator profits by the atrocious " developments " to which the Bill will put an end.
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