§ Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Minister of Power if he will refuse his consent to the National Coal Board's proposals to extract over 8,000,000 tons of opencast coal in the Polesworth, Dordon and Shuttington areas of North Warwickshire in competition with coal from deep mines, as outlined in paragraph 119 of the recent White Paper on Fuel Policy.
§ Mr. FreesonMy right hon. Friend has not received an application from the National Coal Board for consent to work this site.
§ Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Minister of Power if he will make a further statement on the Government's policy on opencast mining in relation to the statements in paragraph 119 of the White Paper on Fuel Policy.
§ Mr. FreesonAs explained in paragraph 119 of the White Paper on Fuel Policy (Cmnd. 3458), during conditions of general coal surplus, the Government have decided not to give authorisations for new sites except in special cases where, because of quality or location, the coal to be produced is not in competition with coal from deep mines. These are the fuel policy considerations which will guide decisions on new sites, though from time to time there may be factors outside fuel policy which favour opencast working and will need to be taken into account. We should expect departures from the policy outlined in the White Paper to be rare.