§ Mr. Steenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a grant towards the cost of dredging the low-water channel in the Salcombe estuary for commercial shellfish vessels working the shellfish quays;
(2) when he issued a consent for the dumping of the dredged soil from the low-water channel in the Salcombe estuary; and if there were any conditions attached to this consent;
(3) if he will make funds available to the Salcombe harbour board to fund the costs of the proposed monitoring by the Nature Conservancy Council of the disposal of the dredged soil from the low-water channel in the licensed dumping ground.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 23 March 1987]: I shall send to my hon. Friend a copy of the licence issued on 5 March under part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 for the disposal of dredged spoil from Salcombe estuary.
My Department informed the harbour authority at Salcombe on 20 February that a grant of approximately 50 per cent. would be payable towards the eligible expenditure on dredging the access channels. This does not include the cost of the monitoring that the Nature Conservancy Council wishes to undertake in respect of these operations.