§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the results of research by the Building Research Establishment on public response to noise from clay target shooting; what further research is planned on the subject; and whether he will now approve the draft code of practice on clay target shooting under the Control of Pollution Act 1974.
§ Mr. AtkinsPreliminary studies on response to clay target shooting noise were carried out by the Building Research Establishment, but, having regard to competing research priorities and the likely outputs from the project, it has not been pursued.
I do, however, recognise that there is some concern about this issue. In July 1993 the Institution of Environmental Health Officers, the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association and the British Shooting Sports Council were asked to produce an agreed code of practice on this activity. It was made clear that if an agreed code could not be produced then the decision not to introduce further restrictions over clay, target shooting under the general development order would be reconsidered. I understand that the organisations involved hope to reach agreement on such a code in the near future. It will be for these organisations to decide whether the code is subsequently submitted for approval by the Secretary of State under section 71 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974.