§ Lord Eltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of the recent decision to refuse to allow an extension on quarrying at Eldon Hill in the Peak District, they will make a statement about their policy towards the winning and working of minerals in national parks.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Skelmersdale)All applications for development whether inside or outside national parks must be considered on their own merits. However, it is also the Secretary of State's policy as expressed in DoE Circular 4/76 that, because of the serious impact mineral working may have on the natural beauty of the parks, applications for the extraction of minerals in national parks must be subject to the most rigorous examination. In his view, extraction should be demonstrated to be in the public interest, and consideration of such applications should therefore normally include an assessment of:
Local authorities should have regard to this policy in the preparation of, and alterations to, their development plans.
- (i) the need for the development, including the extraction of the mineral, in terms of national considerations and the impact of permitting or refusing it upon the local economy;
- (ii) the availability and cost of alternative sources of supply;
- (iii) any detrimental effect on the environment and the landscape and the extent to which that could and should be moderated;
- (iv) whether in the light of this assessment the proposed development would he justified in the public interest.