§ Lord Prys-Daviesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made with the review of planning policy on opencast coal and the appeal cases which are currently before the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for decision. [HL3259]
§ Lord WhittyPlanning policy for coal extraction, including opencast coal mining is set out in Minerals Planning Guidance Note 3 (MPG3). Following the completion of the Energy Fuels Review, we will be preparing a revised draft of MPG3 for England which will be issued this autumn for a period of full consultation with all interested parties. This revised draft will take into account our pre-election commitments on opencast coal, the responses to our consultation in 1997 on Labour's 10-point plan for opencast coal, and, when available, the final conclusions of the Energy Fuels Review on the future of coal as a fuel for UK power generation.
Meanwhile, my department has issued the Secretary of State's decisions on four opencast appeal cases which have been delayed whilst the Energy Fuels Review has been in progress. It would not have been reasonable to delay these any longer. In deciding future cases after the publication of the revised draft of MPG3 for England, its emerging policies, as well as those in the current MPG3, will in appropriate cases be relevant considerations both for mineral planning authorities and for the Secretary of State, and as such will need to be taken into account.