Clause 15 - Minerals and waste development scheme
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill
10:00 am
Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet, Conservative)
I put my name to the amendment, which would add an additional subsection to clause 15, with enthusiasm. It has been inspired by the Council for the Protection of Rural England, and I pay compliment to that prestigious organisation.
The amendment would ensure that minerals and waste development schemes conform to the key sustainable development principle of the prudent use of natural resources. I am not exaggerating when I say that one of the most vital issues that our country, and the world, has to face is the urgent need for the promotion of sustainable development policies. I put it on record, in case it is thought to be an interest that should be declared, that I have the privilege of being the chairman of the 44-nation Council of Europe's committee on sustainable development.
Our earth has a fragile eco-system, which we are abusing terribly. Instead of living off the interest of our land, we are taking resources from it at too great a rate, and diminishing the remaining resources. Unless we take urgent action, we will rightly be seen as the curse of future generations. For too long, minerals
planning has been based on a predict-and-provide strategy. As the CPRE reminds us, we have to reverse that and ensure that we mine only aggregates that we need when there is no other alternative. That may be a rather high-falutin aspiration but it ought to be said because we will have to examine the issue time and again.
The amendment would set out in statute the objective of prudent use. Incidentally, I do hope that the Minister will accept the amendment, even if he feels it necessary to make slight adjustments to it. It would fulfil the stated policy of the Government. The prudent use of natural resources is one of the four key elements of sustainable development as defined in the national sustainable development strategy ''A better quality of life''. It embodies the Government's objective of doing more with less. I hasten to add that that is the strategy of the Department of Trade and Industry and not of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at least not at present. The amendment is in line with the Government's commitment in their rural White Paper to move away from a predict-and-provide approach to minerals planning. I pay tribute to the CPRE. This is one of the most crucial amendments and if it were incorporated in the Bill, it would be to the Government's eternal credit.