§ Sir Hugh RossiTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice was given by his Department to the Central Electricity Generating Board on purchases of limestone for flue gas desulphurisation from quarries outside the national parks.
§ Mr. Trippier[holding answer 19 April 1988]: My Department was one of a number of organisations consulted by the Central Electricity Generating Board on its proposals for obtaining the supplies of limestone it needed for flue gas desulphurisation. My Department drew the board's attention to the importance of the Government's policy on winning and working of minerals in national parks and the statement by my hon. Friend the member for Bristol, West (Mr. Waldegrave) on 9 April, at columns 393–94. We also called attention to reports published by the British Geological Survey which described the location and quality of limestone resources both inside and outside national parks. We advised the board to discuss its needs with the mineral planning authorities, in order to establish whether suitable supplies of limestone would be available from outside the national parks, and the wider planning issues.