HC Deb 07 March 1973 vol 852 cc388-9
9. Mr. Dormand

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his request to local authorities to carry out a broader survey of derelict and despoiled land by the summer of 1974.

The Minister for Local Government and Development (Mr. Graham Page)

The new form of survey announced in the Department's Circular 7/73 has been prepared in close consultation with the local authority associations. This wider survey will be one of the first tasks of the new authorities and should provide the information they will need for pressing ahead with reclamation.

Mr. Dormand

I welcome the broader survey that the Minister has ordered, but is not it likely to turn out to be more a technical exercise than one of reclamation? Will not there be considerable difficulty in getting qualified staff for the work, especially in view of the upheaval that local government reorganisation will cause? Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether the new survey will affect the Government's 10-year target for the clearance of all dereliction?

Mr. Page

The survey covers more than derelict land for which a grant can be made. It will be useful if ever we wish to extend the grant facilities. As for the timing, it is true that some local authorities would have wished it to be a little later. However, the majority feel that they can undertake it in 1974.

Mr. Farr

Will my right hon. Friend pay special attention to the time scale of operations by opencast mineral operators? Is he aware that in some instances they tend to take a great deal of time in their cycle of operations, leaving land in a despoiled state for far too long?

Mr. Page

This will come out in the survey. We are asking for information on land which has planning permission for mineral workings, where mineral workings have to be restored, and how soon they will be restored.

Mr. Roderick

Will the right hon. Gentleman look at the regulations with a view to extending the limits of grant aid to public corporations other than local authorities? Is he aware that bodies like the National Coal Board could be involved in the work of clearing dereliction? I know that it can assist local authorities, but it always leaves them with the residue to find, which smaller authorities cannot afford.

Mr. Page

Generally speaking, it is working well through local authorities. Local authorities acquire the derelict land and therefore have it when they have cleared it. I have not come across any serious problem where a local authority had not been able to deal with it.