§ Mr. HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the coal industry in the context of the proposed reform of old minerals permissions he announced in March.
§ Mr. BaldryWhen my Department published the consultation paper on the reform of old mineral permissions in March 1994 we said that coal was being considered separately.
320WWe have completed that consideration and, in accordance with the Government's general policy that, for planning purposes, coal should be treated no differently from other minerals, the Government intend that the proposals in the consultation paper—all of which will require primary legislation—should apply equally to coal. This would mean that old coal mining permissions will be subject to initial updating of their conditions and thereafter all coal mining permissions would be subject to periodic review at 10-yearly intervals.
Such reviews should include ancillary mining development. However, as the consultation paper makes it clear, conditions imposed following a review should not fundamentally affect the economic structure of the operation.
As a consequence of coal privatisation the General Development Order is being revised to attach restoration conditions to surface development at GDO mines. The Government would not therefore expect GDO mines, which will only recently have had restoration conditions imposed on them as part of that process, to require immediate further review. They would be looked at again at the start of the second phase of the initial updating programme. The consultation proposals envisage that that second phase would commence three years after any new legislation had been brought into force. In practical terms this is likely to mean that GDO mines will be exempt from further review for at least five years.