Speeches by Heylings.

“That social capital that is there is absolutely critical. It is very interesting that, following covid, police forces around the country are building on those neighbourhood groups that were helping each other. They are calling them community resilience groups, but they are not talking about the kind of resilience we ar…”

“We did talk about vulnerability, and you were mentioning the level of households. In what way do you think that we are able to provide those most vulnerable with some of the protection that is needed?”

“Within what is being given at the moment, with the Environment Agency, within that funding, saying that it is less able now to invest in the same number of projects as it was, do you think that more could be done to adequately resource the Environment Agency for its role and its tasks?”

“You are making us ask an even bigger, almost existential question, which is: we do not know how much we should be spending because we have not had the national debate and set the target for the country.”

“At the moment, we don’t actually know?”

“I heard what you were saying about the Dutch example in the Netherlands where they have resilient standards. By “standards”, do I understand you to mean this is the protection that is necessary across different areas and the standards at which it should be, therefore we can calculate the costs for that? Therefore, the …”

“It is sobering to hear your analysis—climate change undeniably increasing the intensity and the frequency of the risk of flooding. We have heard about the damage to businesses and households. In my constituency in South Cambridgeshire, it is also hitting farming. Last year, a farmer at Huntingdon Farm in Sawston said t…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. For more than 23 years, the listed places of worship grant scheme has been a lifeline for communities in South Cambridgeshire, enabling congregations to afford vital repairs to their historical buildings, which are quite often the beating heart of our communiti…”

“As the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for energy security and net zero, I am delighted to support the private Member’s Bill of my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson): the sunshine Bill. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am beaming. South Cambridgeshire is one of the fastest growing constituencies in the country …”

“It will not surprise anyone to hear that I agree wholeheartedly. The record has been corrected. It is vital that the Bill helps to repair that damage, and we look forward to the Minister’s commitment to bringing about these changes. As has been mentioned, the lack of ambition on the solar rooftop revolution has contrib…”

“King’s College in Cambridge, one of the oldest and most prestigious heritage buildings, now has a fine array of solar panels that it managed to get through planning permission. Does the right hon. Member agree that what we need in planning terms is for material weight to be given to climate change, as well as conservat…”

“I think that we have heard you unanimously say that we have to tackle the housing crisis as well as the twin crises in nature and the climate. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. My constituency of South Cambridgeshire is one of the most nature-depleted areas within one of the most nature-…”

“Can I come back to one of your earlier responses? You said that we have to get this clear at the beginning because we cannot keep tweaking the system as we go along. How long have we needed to declare a nature crisis that says we need to be doing these things now? With the nature recovery strategies across the country,…”

“We are still waiting for the Future Home Standard. We are still building homes that are connected to gas, are poorly insulated, and do not have solar panels. We have a Private Member’s bill on Friday about finally getting solar panels on every roof. What can be done so that we are building homes for the future and do n…”

“That would give us the both/and. We can do both the housebuilding and the nature recovery alongside it if it were elevated to that level. Can I ask one more question about the same thing, about our still building however many years after the zero carbon home policy was first posited, I think in 2012?”

“Can I come in? Natural Cambridgeshire and the Greater Cambridgeshire Planning Authority have got, together with developers, a Building with Nature toolkit. They are toolkits. They are initiatives. What I am asking is this. Should stick with voluntary or should this be mandated?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you, Mr Dowd. Like our rivers, lakes and seas, our chalk streams are choked with a cocktail of chemicals and sewage. Water shortages are already becoming critical. That is the case in my constituency, which is home to precious chalk streams that are under threat. The Conservative Governm…”

“Can I come back to one of your earlier responses? You said that we have to get this clear at the beginning because we cannot keep tweaking the system as we go along. How long have we needed to declare a nature crisis that says we need to be doing these things now? With the nature recovery strategies across the country,…”

“This is to the National Housing Federation as well, Mr Smyth. We know that when it comes to viability assessments in planning committees around the country, even if these initiatives have been successful in some areas, when it comes down to it, they are not obligatory and they are what fall away.”

“We are still waiting for the Future Home Standard. We are still building homes that are connected to gas, are poorly insulated, and do not have solar panels. We have a Private Member’s bill on Friday about finally getting solar panels on every roof. What can be done so that we are building homes for the future and do n…”