§ Mr. HoodTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if local planning authorities have an obligation to protect the local community from the effects arising from opencast mining sites and other large land obligations.
§ Sir Paul BeresfordMineral planning guidance note 3 advises mineral planning authorities to take into account the effect of opencast coal mining on local communities, together with any steps that the operator proposes to take to minimise these effects, before deciding whether 343W planning permission should be granted for opencast coal proposals. Where permission is granted, appropriate planning conditions should be attached to the permission to protect the interests of local communities. In addition, the Coal Industry Act 1994 imposes an environmental duty on the coal industry, and mineral planning authorities are required to have regard to the extent to which the operator has complied with the duty.
§ Mr. HoodTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy in respect of the obligation of bonds imposed by local planning authority on the owners of opencast mining sites and other large land obligations for the restoration of such sites.
§ Sir Paul BeresfordIt is Government policy that sites used for opencast mining should be properly restored to a beneficial use when extraction has ceased. This policy objective should normally be achieved through implementation by the mineral operators of appropriate planning conditions attached to the permissions. Therefore local authorities should not usually have to require a bond to secure site restoration, in addition, through a planning agreement or obligation.