§ 5 Clause 4, page 4, line 7, leave out from ("in") to end of line 24.
§ 12.1 p.m.
§ Lord BellwinMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their said amendment. The main purpose of Clause 4 of the Bill is to ensure that the owners of mineral rights know about minerals planning applications which may affect them. However, we consider that there are some mineral rights for which this kind of individual notification is not required and the purpose of the original subsections 1 C and 1D was to provide a procedure for an order to be made requiring notification to be given to the owners of these excluded minerals or minerals planning applications in cases where they wished to be so notified.
The provisions have been criticised on the ground that an applicant for planning permission might not be aware that such an order had been made. We accept this criticism, and this amendment seeks to delete subsections 1C and 1D entirely. At Committee stage in this House, my noble friend Lord Mottistone moved a virtually identical amendment, and at that time I gladly undertook to consider the matter to see whether we could meet his point, while ensuring that the essential requirements could be met in some other way. We have concluded that they can, and we are now proposing to amend the General Development Order to provide for the planning authority to consult the owners of excluded minerals in cases where the owners have requested such consultation. I should add that the owners of excluded minerals are content with the new procedure which we have in mind. I beg to move, that this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Bellwin.)
§ Lord MottistoneMy Lords, I should like to thank the Minister for this amendment and, indeed, there will be many others. If he will forgive me, I shall not thank him each time. However, we are deeply grateful for the amendments, like this one to which he has referred, in which proposals that were made in this House have at last found their way into the Bill.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.