§ Mr. LeslieTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many planning applications were considered by the Environment Agency in their role as statutory consultee in the last full year for which records are available; and on how many occasions the Environment Agency registered formal advice to local planning authorities to reject applications on the grounds of potential watercourse pollution. [30795]
§ Mr. RaynsfordIn 1996–97, the Environment Agency was consulted on 104,847 planning applications by English and Welsh local planning authorities on both a statutory and non-statutory basis. The Agency advised local planning authorities to reject the application on the grounds of potential watercourse pollution in an estimated 250 cases. The Agency does not collect separate figures on statutory as opposed to non-statutory consultations nor are applications affecting watercourses always recorded separately.