§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) pursuant to his answer of 19 May,Official Report, column 74, on minerals planning guidance note 3, whether the terms of reference of the recent review have included the principles of planning guidance as well as their practical operation;
(2) pursuant to his answer of 19 May, Official Report, column 74, if he will list the organisations consulted during the consultation exercise on minerals planning guidance note 3; how many responses have been received; if he will provide a breakdown of the responses; and if he will publish a copy of any questionnaire distributed as part of the exercise;
(3) pursuant to his answer of 19 May, Official Report, column 74, when his consultation exercise on minerals planning guidance note 3 was begun; when it is scheduled to finish; whether it was part of the normal review process or was initiated as a special review; when an announcement of the results will be made; and whether he plans any further reviews in 1992;
(4) pursuant to his answer of 19 May, Official Report, column 74, on minerals planning guidance note 3, how local authorities were consulted; and if he will publish copies of the letters or questionnaires sent to local authorities.
§ Mr. BaldryIt is normal practice to monitor the effectiveness of mineral planning guidance notes. As part of the monitoring of MPG3 the Department wrote to representatives of the local authorities, the industry and environmental organisations on 19 December 1991 seeking their views on how well the guidelines were operating and whether they had created any problems. I am placing copies of the letter, which sought views on all the principal aspects of the guidance in MPG3, together with a list of the organisations consulted, in the Library of the House. Comments were requested by 20 March 1992, but responses have continued to come in since that date and will all be considered. Separate consultations were carried out by the Welsh Office.
To date, 55 responses have been received from outside bodies: 30 from local authority associations and individual local authorities; 10 from representatives of the industry; nine from environmental groups; and six from local residents' action groups. The responses are currently being evaluated and in the light of the results of that evaluation, I shall consider whether there is a need for revision of MPG3. I shall announce my decision as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration is being given to reversing the rule at public inquiries that local communities cannot in their objections to opencast mining challenge the commercial need for opencast coal.
§ Mr. BaldryThere is no such rule. Inspectors must take into account all representations which are material to the planning decision including any arguments advanced by the applicant in support of the proposals and any counter arguments advanced by objectors. However, the potential profitability or otherwise of any proposed development is not usually material to land use planning decisions.