§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make a statement on the adequacy of current safety regulations affecting storage tanks for liquid petroleum gas; whether there are any planning restrictions on their location; and whether he will restrict their location to non-residential areas.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 provides a framework to ensure adequate safety controls; the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland has established procedures for the consideration of planning applications to install such tanks, including consultation with the Health and Safety Inspectorate.
Individual sites are considered on their merits; important factors include the character of the surrounding area, population density and the quantity of gas to be stored.