§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the applications for derelict land reclamation grants in 1984–85 under the Derelict Land Act 1982, giving details of the nature of the development, the location and size of the site and the costs of development and reclamation;
(2) what is the allocation for the financial year 1984–85 for derelict land reclamation; of this how much will be spent on category A schemes; and what is the budgeted private sector investment.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe receipt and approval of applications for grant in 1984–85 is a continuing process, but details of the provision by broad categories were given in reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr. Carlisle) on 28 February 1984, at columns 148–49.
The overall provision is £74 million, of which £24 million is being made available for new and ongoing category A schemes, about £39 million for other local authority schemes (category B) and £5 million for the non-local authority sector. In addition there is £6 million for reclamation on Merseyside.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation extending the amount of grant available to the private sector under the Derelict Land Act 1982 from 80 to 100 per cent.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI am anxious to achieve the greatest possible value for money in the execution of schemes approved under this part of the derelict land programme. I consider that this can best be achieved by retaining the private sector's 20 per cent. interest in funding the net loss incurred on reclaimation.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the private bodies applying for grants in 1984–85 under the Derelict Land Act 1982, providing details of the nature of the development, the location and size of the site, and the cost of development and reclamation.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe information is not available in the detail requested. Applications for grants by the private and nationalised industry sectors can be made at any time before or during the year and are considered on their merits. The total grant provision for the year is £5 million compared with £1.75 million for 1983–84.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will estimate the total acreage of land which will be brought into constructive use by means of all derelict land reclamation grants in 1984–85;
(2) how many acres have been brought into productive use as a result of derelict land grants in each of the last five years, including through category A schemes.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneTotal figures for 1983–84 are not yet available. It is not possible to forecast in advance the total acreage for 1984–85 but on the basis of recent experience I expect the outturn for each of these two years to be of the order of 2,500 acres for industrial, commercial, housing and other development.
187WIn the period 1979–80 to 1982–83 schemes involving reclamation of over 6,200 acres for productive use were approved. The amount approved each year was:
Acres 1979–80 1,250 1980–81 960 1981–82 1,440 1982–83 2,575
Local Authority Sector £ million Region 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 Main programme Supplementary programme Northern 6.54 7.14 5.26 5.31 4.99 10.35 9.10 North-West 6.20 8.24 11.87 13.04 12.51 30.82 27.20 Yorkshire and Humberside 2.70 3.29 3.06 2.50 0.77 4.60 4.00 West Midlands 3.51 3.60 3.61 6.17 3.50 12.96 13.98 East Midlands 1.58 3.44 2.28 5.33 1.87 7.97 7.10 South-West 0.40 0.68 0.33 0.34 1.11 1.06 1.00 London 0.73 3.52 3.14 1.96 0.93 4.94 5.98 South-East .71 0.11 0.13 0.08 0.43 0.15 0.20 Eastern 0.15 0.17 Total local authority sector 22.37 30.02 29.68 34.73 25.61 73.00 68.73 60.34 Non-local authority sector — — 0.02 0.76 — 1.75 5.00 0.76 Total 22.37 30.02 29.70 61.10 74.75 73.73 Note: Figures for 1979–80 to 1982–83 show outturn expenditure. Those for 1983–84 and 1984–85 show expenditure provision.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list in the Official Report those derelict land schemes approved in 1982–83 and 1983–84 that have resulted in development by the private sector, including details of location, size of site, reclamation and development costs and nature of the project;
(2) if he will list the amount of derelict land grant which has been spent on category A reclamation schemes since their inception in 1982, specifying how much was granted in each region.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI refer my hon. Friend to the list attached to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Mr. Beaumont-Dark) on 20 December at columns186–90.
Schemes are at various stages from preparation to completion. Total grant-earning reclamation costs for the 121 so far approved under category A, including schemes for 1984–85, are expected to be in the region of £60 million leading to private development investment of some £350 million. The regional distribution is:
188W
£ million North 3.8 North West 27.2 Yorkshire and Humberside 1.8 West Midlands 13.1 East Midlands 5.1 London 9.1 60.1
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will provide details of the allocations of public expenditure on derelict land reclamation in 1984–85 region by region;
(2) if he will set out in tabular form the amount spent on the derelict land grant programme in each of the last five years, specifying how much was granted in each region.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe details are as follows:
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria Her Majesty's Government apply in awarding grants for new land reclamation projects.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneFirst priority is given to joint local authority — private sector (category A) schemes under which reclamation is followed by immediate disposal for development by the private sector. Priority is also given to schemes that contribute to urban renewal and recycling land for new productive uses. Special provision is also made for the reclamation of former steelworks and for schemes under "Operation Groundwork" in the north-west designed to revive land in the urban-rural interface.
A separate priority is the issue of grants direct to the private sector so as to encourage the reclamation of sites for new development, particularly for schemes in line with local authorities' own initiatives.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report those derelict land schemes approved in 1982–83 and 1983–84, excluding category A schemes, and detailing the location, reclamation and development costs, the size of site and nature of the development in each case.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneOver 700 new category B schemes were approved in 1982–83, with total approved costs of over £55 million involving more than 4,000 acres of reclaimed land. The breakdown of intended end use, by percentage, is:
189W
Percentage Public Open Space 43 Agriculture 13 Industry and Commerce 19 Residential 5 Mixed and others 20 Comparable figures for 1983–84 are not yet available but the provision remains at about the same level.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications for derelict land grants have been made and how many accepted in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe information is not available for the full period. For the last four years to 1982–83 the number of new schemes approved is as follows:
Year Number of licences Animals Reasons Destination stated on licence 1979 None — — — 1980 2 4 dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Trade Trident House, Brook Mews, London 1 dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Trade Not Stated 1981 4 2 dolphins (Tursiops Gilli) Zoo/trade Not Stated 3 killer whales Zoo/trade Florida Dolphin Show, Clacton Pier, Essex *2 dolphins (Tursiops Gilli) Trade Not Stated *2 dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Trade Aquarium Entertainments Ltd., Brighton, Sussex 1982 3 *1 dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Exhibition Clacton Pier, Essex *1 dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Exhibition Clacton Pier, Essex *1 dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Exhibition Knowsley Safari Park, Knowsley 1983 5 †2 dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Breeding and Exhibition Knowsley Safari Park, Knowsley 1 dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Breeding and Exhibition Knowsley Safari Park, Knowsley 2 dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Breeding and Exhibition Flamingo Land, near Malton, North Yorks 1 dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Breeding and Exhibition Flamingo Land, near Malton, North Yorks *2 dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Education and Exhibition Brighton Aquarium 1984 None to date — — — *Licence not used. †Licence used only in part.