§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Office is taking to promote(a) the decontamination of contaminated land and (b) its development in preference to development of green field sites; and if he will make a statement. [91623]
§ Mr. McNultyAs my right hon Friend the Deputy Prime Minister said in his statement on sustainable communities, housing and planning on 18 July 2002,Official Report columns 438–442. the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister needs to make better use of land. The Government target that 60 per cent. of additional homes should be on brown-field land is being met but the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister needs to keep up the pressure.
English Partnerships have been appointed as the Government's expert advisors on brown-field land. They are currently working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to draw up a National Brown-field Strategy to be presented to the Deputy Prime Minister for approval in Spring 2003.
In addition, The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister consulted in February 2002 on new technical planning advice on the development on land affected by contamination. This emphasised the positive role of planning in bringing about the remediation of contaminated land. It recognised particularly that much of the contaminated land identified under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 will be subject to voluntary remediation through the planning system as part of the process of redevelopment. This revision of the contaminated land aspects of Planning policy guidance note 23 will be incorporated later this year in a new Planning policy statement, accompanied by a technical annexes on development on land affected by contamination.