§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) how many opencast coalmining sites have been worked in South Yorkshire since the establishment of the Opencast Executive;
(2) how many opencast coalmining sites have been worked in Barnsley and district since the establishment of the Opencast Executive.
§ Mr. John Moore:Ten sites in the South Yorkshire area have been authorised and worked under the Opencast Coal Act 1958. Of these three were in the Barnsley area. I regret that information is not readily available on the number of sites, if any, worked in the area prior to the 1958 Act.
§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Energy how many proposals for exploration and for opencast coalmining are before the Barnsley and metropolitan district council and the South Yorkshire county council, stating the acreage involved in each application and the estimated period of operations.
§ Mr. John Moore:No applications from the NCB for authorisations under the Opencast Coal Act 1958 for opencast sites in Barnsley or South Yorkshire are currently with my Department. I understand however that the board is discussing a number of possible future sites with local authorities in the area.