§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to initiate a new review of the planning guidelines on opencast coal mining.
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 18 May 1992]: The current guidelines are contained in minerals planning guidance note 3—MPG3—published in 1988. As part of a monitoring exercise on the effectiveness of the guidelines, my Department has recently completed a wide ranging consultation exercise on their practical operation. I shall consider whether there is any need for revision of MPG3 in the light of that.