§ 22. Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received regarding planning policy in relation to opencast mining.
§ 23. Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to revise further his planning policies towards opencast coal mining; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RidleyThe Department issued revised draft guidelines for opencast coal mining for consultation in April last year. We received a number of representations and these are being considered. We propose to publish revised guidelines in the near future.