§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many potential sites of special scientific interest are awaiting notification or renotification;
(2) if he will list the total number of sites of special scientific interest notified under section 23 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949;
(3) if he will list the total number of sites of special scientific interest notified under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
§ Mr. TrippierI am advised by the Nature Conservancy Council that 4,043 SSSIs were notified to local planning authorities under the 1949 Act. By December 1989 the NCC had renotified 3,251 of these and in addition had identified a further 3,091 new sites, of which 1,853 had been notified under the 1981 Act.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many sites of special scientific interest have been damaged in each of the last five years as a result of operations which were granted planning permission.
§ Mr. TrippierFull information on the numbers of SSSIs damaged since April 1984 is set out in the NCC's annual reports, copies of which are in the Library.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list all sites of special scientific interest currently the subject of(a) planning applications, (b) appeals and (c) inquiries;
(2) if he will list those sites of special scientific interest in respect of which planning applications were made but were not objected to by the Nature Conservancy Council;
(3) if he will list those sites of special scientific interest where the Nature Conservancy Council objected to a planning application in 1988–89;
(4) if he will list those sites of special scientific interest which have been notified with existing planning permissions in place.
§ Mr. TrippierThis information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial resources are available to local authorities for compensation payments in respect of revocation or discontinuance orders made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1971.
§ Mr. MoynihanDecisions on revocation and discontinuance orders are no different from other local authority decisions which may result in expenditure being incurred. In making any such decision an authority will need to have regard to its available resources and its priorities for expenditure.
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to reduce the 40-year period of planning permission granted for mineral and peat extraction which relates to a site of special scientific interest; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TrippierMineral planning authorities have the power to impose conditions on a planning consent which specify the limit of duration of planning permission for mineral sites. Where they do not specify a time limit, the730W development must cease not later than 60 years from the date of the permission. Where planning permission was already in existence at the time this provision came into effect, development must cease by the year 2042. Mineral planning authorities which wish to limit existing developments can make orders revoking or modifying the planning permission or requiring the use of land to be discontinued or continued subject to conditions. We have no proposals to alter these provisions.