HC Deb 11 May 1992 vol 207 c362
6. Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has any plans to meet officials of the Crown Estates to discuss the granting of dredging licences off the south Wales coast.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to do so.

Mr. Griffiths

Will the Secretary of State urgently call a meeting with the Crown Estate Commissioners, because the Swansea bay study group set up by local authorities has commissioned research that shows that, over the past 20 years, the sandbanks off my constituency and those in other parts of Swansea bay have lost more than 80 million tonnes of sand. Those sandbanks are now lower and are contributing to the severe loss of sand and coastal erosion along the south Wales coast. The Crown Estate Commissioners have refused to meet local authorities and I urge the Secretary of State to intervene as a matter of urgency.

Mr. Jones

I am aware of reports suggesting that there has been significant erosion over the past 40 or 50 years. Welsh Office officials are in touch with the Crown Estate Commissioners regarding an examination of those reports. In turn, it might be worth mentioning that the Crown Estate Commissioners have had bathometric surveys carried out of the Nash bank, on which there has been dredging since 1988. Those surveys show very little change in sand levels.

Mr. Donald Anderson

Does the Minister recognise that there is real anxiety in south Wales about the results of erosion, because the effects of dredging are uncertain? Given this uncertainty, will the Welsh Office commission its own report, to allay the deep anxieties that are felt in the coastal areas? Dredging could undermine sea walls and affect substantially the sand levels along the coastlines.

Mr. Jones

The present procedure for considering dredging involves a Government view and it requires that a formal environmental statement be submitted in support of any dredging wherever there is any possibility of significant damage to the marine or coastal environment. All such dredging applications will be considered in that way. Furthermore, that procedure will be reviewed as we continue to seek improvements.