HC Deb 24 February 1993 vol 219 cc865-7
2. Mr. Hawksley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the setting up of a contaminated land register.

The Minister for the Environment and Countryside (Mr. David Maclean)

I want to end the uncertainty as soon as possible. I intend to make a statement shortly on our proposals for registers of land that may be contaminated.

Mr. Hawksley

May I thank my hon. Friend for his answer? It is disappointing that he has not been able to give us a statement today. However, I thank him for the way in which he received courteously the all-party delegation of black country Members who made representations for the register to be abandoned. May I make my hon. Friend aware that the banks, especially in the west midlands, which is an area covered by contaminated land that would all be on the register if it were set up, are now starting to tell people that they will reduce the value of their security if action is not taken quickly to get rid of the threat of a register? Will my hon. Friend come quickly to the House to make a statement?

Mr. Maclean

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. I was grateful to him, to other hon. Members from all parties who attended and to other all-party delegations that came to see me to make this point. As my hon. Friend is aware from our discussions, this is a complex matter. There are some fundamental flaws in the present proposals, but finding the right solution, which will not cause unnecessary blight, which will allow sensible development to take place, which will ensure that actively contaminated land is cleaned up and which will ensure that all people who have the right to know get to know, is not easy.

I am conscious of the need to act rather quickly and I hope that not too long a time will elapse before we can announce our firm proposals. I am absolutely convinced of one thing: I must get it right rather than give a rushed and speedy response.

Mr. Chris Smith

Is it not clear, however, that on the issue of contaminated land, the Government are trying desperately to scrabble out of a mess of their own making? Is it not the case that at present, the Government's proposals provide no incentive for the decontamination and treatment of land that is contaminated? Any register, any system and any amendments to the planning system that the Government produce must provide precisely such an incentive.

Mr. Maclean

It is unfortunate that the hon. Gentleman has his facts slightly wrong on this important issue. Incentives are available for cleaning up contaminated land. Although the Government make generous funds available, it is a tripartite exercise. We need funds from the Government, we need the response of the local authority and, of prime importance, we need the money from private enterprise, from the banks and from the building societies.

We shall shortly bring forward proposals on how we see the way ahead. We have done the correct and honourable thing. We brought forward proposals for consultation and the consultation process has revealed some flaws in the proposals. We intend to ensure that when we bring forward our final proposals, we have taken on board all the views we have heard from all sides—I stress all sides —so that we can have proper industrial development and the regeneration of city areas that much need it.

Mr. Pickles

Does my hon. Friend accept that although there are plenty of inducements for taking care of contaminated land, there is a danger that the proposals as currently drafted might prevent that land from being used? Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be a great shame if the proposals caused areas within our inner cities to be abandoned? Does he accept that quite a lot of work has been done on getting rid of contaminated land? Will he give a commitment that when the register comes, it will be used as an incentive in terms of recognising that good work can be done and that land can be brought back into commercial use for people in inner cities?

Mr. Maclean

One of the most instructive visits that I have made recently was to the black country. There I was shown areas of land that had been cleaned up and were now perfectly suitable for their current use. District councils there gave me the message loud and clear that the present proposals would involve the danger of causing unnecessary blight. All hon. Members agree that we must deal with land that is a problem and which needs cleaning up and not just compile blacklists of land that might possibly have been contaminated some time since the Romans arrived. That is what I am addressing my mind to, and I am looking at the liability question. I want the land in our cities to be used. I do not want 600,000 acres of contaminated or potentially derelict land left idle and the countryside used instead.

Mr. Simon Hughes

If the Government are to make a U-turn and scrap section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, will the Minister at least give us two assurances? The first is that there will be a requirement that contamination be cleared before planning permission is given. The second is that every portion of land is given a statement on its contamination level before it is developed.

Mr. Maclean

The hon. Gentleman is trying to jump too many hurdles at once—he is trying to look too far ahead. As I have said, I hope to make a statement shortly on how we see progress on this matter. My aims are simple and straightforward: to ensure that those interested in knowing the state of the land have their rights protected —the right to know is terribly important; and actively to encourage the use and cleaning up of contaminated land —cleaned up not to some absolute standard but so as to be fit and suitable for the purpose for which it is intended.

Mr. Ashby

If a builder has spent millions of pounds decontaminating land and has built houses there, he should not then be faced with a solicitor telling him that a potential purchaser will not buy a property there because the land is on the register of contaminated land. That must not be allowed to prevail. There must be a system for taking land off the register once it has reached a standard of decontamination that is considered correct.

Mr. Maclean

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is one of the fundamental problems with the earlier statute. Once land has appeared on any published register, no matter how much it has been cleaned up it cannot come off the register. That is unacceptable. Opposition Members have also made the point to me that this is a problem which we should not put up with.

We are giving our attention to this problem and I want to look at every possible measure to get around it.