Laura Sandys MP Speech re Protecting Grade 1 Agricultural Land

In support of shoppers across Thanet and Sandwich, today Laura Sandys MP introduced a Bill in Parliament to prevent local authorities granting planning permission on Grade 1 Agricultural Land.

“We have a lot of really good land in East Kent that must be secured for food production not development.  We need to ensure that locally we support our local producers and try where possible to buy local food.”

By safeguarding Britain’s agricultural land, the Bill aims to ensure the UK can produce food domestically. This will reduce its heavy reliance on international markets which has left consumers vulnerable to food price spikes. Last year alone, costs were passed directly onto shopping trolleys across Thanet as consumers bore the brunt of a 4.6% increase in the cost of food. The Bill aims to reinstate the protection that was in place when food production was part of our national security considerations and seen as a strategic asset.

Read the speech in the attached document.

[wpfilebase tag=file path=’Laura Sandys MP Speech.pdf’ /]

The current status of the Bill can be found here:

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/planninggrade1agriculturallandprotection.html