§ Mr. Patrick McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if the planning application by Shell UK Ltd. to drill for oil in the Denny inclosure in the New Forest was valid at the time when his Department's inspector opened the public planning inquiry at Lyndhurst in January 1982.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneNo reason was seen to doubt the validity of the planning application at the time the public inquiry was opened at Lyndhurst in January 1982. However, I am now advised that it appears in fact to be invalid, since it relates to Crown land in which there is no apparent non-Crown interest. By virtue of section 266(1)(b) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 there is no power to grant planning permission in respect of such land.
§ Mr. Patrick McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of the number of planning applications which have been granted for the extraction of hydrocarbons on Crown land since 1971.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe information that my Department collects on planning applications submitted to local authorities is not classified either by mineral type or land ownership.