Clause 15 - Minerals and waste development scheme
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill
10:00 am
Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No.88, in
clause 15, page 9, line 9, at end insert—
'(1A) The minerals and waste development scheme must have regard to—
(a) making prudent use of natural resources;
(b) the objective of reducing demand for natural resource usage through the promotion of a pattern of land use which is strategically efficient in its use of aggregates;
(c) the requirement for an environmental capacity assessment;
(d) carrying out, every four years, a regional level review of quantities of regional supplies and their distribution, taking into account the rate of recycling and secondary material, progress with demand management and environmental capacity.'.
I can be fairly succinct on this amendment, as it is clear and straightforward. It is a probing amendment to find out whether the Government take their own words on environmental issues and interests to heart.
The amendment revives memories of the aggro that I used to have as a planning Minister when the difficult task of mineral extraction came before Ministers, frequently after a ding-dong battle between those who wished to extract and those who did not, with the local authorities in the middle. There was a change in the 1990s when some mineral extraction, particularly coal extraction, was rationalised, but we need to go a little further. The Council for the Preservation of Rural England has made some sensible suggestions that explore whether the Minister takes the environment realistically.
The problem with minerals is that, to state the obvious, they are where they are. When they are discovered and need to be extracted, one must take into account the positive and negative aspects. Nowadays we must also include the environmental aspect. We have an opportunity to use the planning system to encourage the trend, which is supported by all sides, towards realising the impact that digging huge holes, particularly opencast holes, for sand, coal and various minerals, has on the environment and people. We must also rationalise the thinking that goes with that and force local authorities at least to think about it, to assess the situation and to recognise that the planning system can be used to encourage recycling.
Recycling has improved dramatically over the past few years, particularly in the private sector, which has recognised the way the nation and the world are going. It has recognised the environmental benefits, and some startling changes have taken place. I think with some amusement of firms that are now sintering sewage sludge so that it can be used on the roads. Other firms not too far from here have laboratories looking into recycling the rubbish scraped off roads when they are to be relaid. To reflect those changes in a planning Bill would considerably enforce that trend, which would follow the line that the Government have taken.
The point of the amendment is to ask the Government what they intend to do and whether they will include anything in planning legislation to ensure that that trend, which we all support, will continue.