§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) in view of the importance of projected coal development in the Vale of Belvoir and the restraints imposed by ordinary planning inquiries, whether he is prepared to consider that any public inquiry which should be held should take the form of a Public Inquiry Commission, Sections 47 to 49, Town and Country Planning Act 1971, rather than an inquiry under section 282 of the same Act;
(2) whether it is anticipated that the public hearings for the three mine locations in the Vale of Belvoir will be conducted separately or in a joint inquiry.
§ Mr. ShoreSince the National Coal Board has not yet applied for planning permission to mine coal at Belvoir, it would be premature for me to decide at this stage on the precise procedure to be followed.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he anticipates that planning applications will be lodged to cover coal mining development in the Vale of Belvoir; and how long he estimates the planning process will last.
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§ Mr. ShoreThe timing of an application for planning permission is a matter for the National Coal Board. It is too soon to make a useful assessment of how long the planning processes will take.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the projected mining for coal in the Vale of Belvoir on the scale envisaged accords with the most recent structure plans of the area, particularly with the Leicester and Leicestershire Sub-Regional Planning Study.
§ Mr. ShoreThe existing Leicestershire Structure Plan was approved on 27th May 1976. This plan was prepared before the National Coal Board had made public any plans to develop the coalfield in the Vale of Belvoir and in its current form it therefore takes no account of the possibility. County planning authorities are, however, required to keep structure plans under review.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether it is intended to build a new town to accommodate miners, their families and contractors' personnel, or whether it is the intention of the Government to add housing estates to existing villages in the Vale of Belvoir.
§ Mr. ShoreThe available information does not indicate that development of the coalfield would involve immigration into the area of the Vale of Belvoir of such an order as to warrant the designation of a new town under the New Towns Act. Provision for associated new housing must be in the first instance a matter for discussion between the National Coal Board and the local authorities concerned.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the projected mining for coal in the Vale of Belvoir on the scale envisaged accords with the Regional Report of the East Midlands Economic Planning Council.
§ Mr. ShoreIn its document "East Midlands—A Forward Economic Look", which was published last year, the economic planning council made clear its view that details of the National Coal Board's intentions in the Vale of Belvoir should be published and made the subject of consultation.