Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Hansard, 28 January 1993)

§ 4. Lady Olga Maitland
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress is being made towards the establishment of new environmentally sensitive areas.

§ The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. John Selwyn Gummer)
I announced the launch of six new environmentally sensitive areas last week.

§ Lady Olga Maitland
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on that news. Does he agree that environmentally sensitive areas are as invaluable to those who live in towns as they are to those who live in the country, because they make the countryside more attractive to visit, visits result in tourism, and tourism results in jobs?

§ Mr. Gummer
I agree with my hon. Friend. There are a number of environmentally sensitive areas within easy reach of her constituents. ESAs enable us to target money to improve the countryside, to keep that which we especially want to keep and to ensure that farmers are able to look after the countryside in the way that townspeople and suburban dwellers want. ESAs have been recognised by the rest of Europe as perhaps the most enlightened advance in environmentalism since the war.

§ Mr. Roy Hughes
What constitutes an environmentally sensitive area? Does the category include areas in which there are badger setts? Will the Minister take account of the fact that in some instances dogs have been allowed into badger setts and that recently on the land of a Mr. David Samworth of Melton Mowbray setts were blocked with steel drums? Will he try to ensure that my Badgers Act 1991 is operated in both spirit and letter?

§ Mr. Gummer
As nearly 12 per cent. of the land area of England will be covered by environmentally sensitive areas, it would be difficult to imagine there not being badger setts in some of those areas. I do not think that in any of the prescriptions for environmentally sensitive areas we have a specific point about badger setts. I should not like the hon. Gentleman to think that he had edged his question into a different one, but I will look into the question of badger setts and environmentally sensitive areas.

§ Sir Jim Spicer
May I assure my right hon. Friend that the people of West Dorset are delighted to see the establishment of the South Wessex downs environmentally sensitive area? They will greatly appreciate that in future. My right hon. Friend knows that part of the world well. The area finishes at Maiden Newton, but it would be extremely nice if it could extend to my home town of Beaminster. May I make future representations to him about that ?

§ Mr. Gummer
I should be happy to have representations. When I was Minister of State and piloted the first ESA scheme through Committee, all the criticisms were that it would not be taken up and that farmers and conservationists would not like it. The Labour party said that we should not do it like that, and that it should not be done by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food but by conservationists. It has turned out that farmers have learnt from conservationists, and conservationists have learnt from farmers. The Ministry's involvement has meant that many more of my officials have been trained in conservation as well as in production. The scheme has been most successful and I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Mr. Jopling) whose idea it was.