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SSSIs
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to take further measures to protect sites of special scientific interest. [76379]
Mr. Meacher: We are further developing proposals put forward in the Government consultation paper, Sites of Special Scientific Interest--Better Protection and Management, taking account of the issues raised in the 562 responses. We will seek to implement legislative measures when Parliamentary time permits, but will also take forward procedural and administrative improvements at the earliest opportunity.
Planning Applications
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of appeals to the planning inspectorate by applicants against decisions taken by (a) the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, (b) the London Borough of Wandsworth and (c) the City of Westminster were successful in (i) 1997 and (ii) 1998. [76270]
Mr. Caborn: I have asked the Chief Executive, of the Planning Inspectorate, Mr. Chris Shepley, to write to my hon. Friend.
| 1997 | 1998 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 24 | 29 |
| Wandsworth | 21 | 33 |
| Westminster | 29 | 35 |
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many planning applications were called in by the Secretary of State in (a) the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and (b) the London Borough of Wandsworth and (c) the City of Westminster in (i) 1997 and (b) 1998. [76269]
Mr. Caborn:
None in Hammersmith and Fulham, one in Wandsworth in 1997 and one in Westminster in 1998.
15 Mar 1999 : Column: 466
Mr. Cummings:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the (a) acreage and (b) location of contaminated land in the County of Durham. [76249]
Mr. Meale:
The information requested is not held centrally.
Mr. Cummings:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice he has given to local authorities in respect of compiling and maintaining a contaminated land register within their boundaries; and if he will make a statement. [76247]
Mr. Meale:
My department will be carrying out further consultations shortly on regulations and statutory guidance necessary to implement the contaminated land regime contained in Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (inserted by section 57 of the Environment Act 1995).
Local authority functions under Part IIA include compilation of a register which will provide details about regulatory action and remediation on land formally identified as contaminated land.
Mr. Cummings:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the local authorities in the Northern Region which hold a detailed contaminated land register; and if he will make a statement. [76248]
Mr. Meale:
There is no statutory requirement for local authorities to keep registers of contaminated land. Individual authorities may maintain records about land contamination, but there is no information held centrally about which authorities do so.
Mr. Flight:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to publish proposals for the future management of the South Downs; and if he will make a statement. [76370]
Mr. Meacher:
We are still looking very carefully at the issues. We hope to announce some conclusions soon.
Mr. Bill O'Brien:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what discussions he has had with representatives of the packaging industry on the recovery targets set for the packaging industry up to 2001; what assessment he has made of the ability of the industry to achieve such targets; and if he will make a statement; [76215]
(3) what is his estimate of the number of businesses in the packaging industry that will be exempt from the packaging waste obligations as a result of a change in the financial turnover cut-off threshold to £2 million. [76217]
Mr. Meacher:
A consultation paper was published on 30 July 1998 which included proposals to increase the interim business recovery and recycling targets in 1999
15 Mar 1999 : Column: 467
and 2000 and over 350 responses were received. The UK packaging recovery rate is expected to have reached approximately 32 per cent. in 1998 and the interim business targets are designed to enable the UK to achieve the mandatory EC Directive recovery and recycling targets in 2001. Industry itself has reported that there was an oversupply of reprocessing capacity in 1998 compared with the targets that had to be met and this was damaging the market. The increase in the interim business recovery and recycling targets should therefore generate the necessary momentum to enable sufficient activity to be carried out to achieve the 2001 targets. A further consideration was the need for sufficient resources to be directed at generating the necessary collection and reprocessing capacity that will be needed to meet targets in 2001. With this additional infrastructure in place, the UK should be able to meet these mandatory targets.
I expect to make a statement about the future operation of the Packaging Waste Recovery Note System very shortly.
The Department's current estimates suggest that some 4,500 smaller businesses will be excluded from the scope of the Regulations as a result of the change to the financial turnover cut-off threshold in 2000.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what evidence is provided by the English House Conditions Survey and the Survey of English Housing on the quality of housing of pensioners aged over 80 years in relation to that of other pensioner households. [76099]
Mr. Raynsford
[holding answer 11 March 1999]: The table from the 1996 English House Condition Survey indicates that pensioners aged over 80 years are much more likely to live in poor quality housing than pensioners below that age. The likelihood of the latter living in poor quality housing is on average not that much different from the population as a whole.
(2) when he plans to make a statement on the future operation of the Packaging Waste Recovery Notes System; [76216]
| Percentage of people in each age group: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) living in | (b) | ||
| i. unfit homes(8) | ii. poor housing(9) | without central heating | |
| Pensionersaged 81+ | 9 | 23 | 18 |
| Pensionersaged 80 or less | 5 | 14 | 12 |
| all ages | 6 | 13 | 11 |
(8) Unfit homes refer to properties assessed as unfit according to the standard defined by Section 604 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
(9) Poor housing refers to homes that are either unfit, in substantial disrepair or requiring essential modernisation.
Footpaths
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the appeal by St. Leonard's and St. Ives Parish Council against the refusal of Dorset County Council to modify the definitive map to add five footpaths at Lions Hill, St Leonard's was made; and on what date he expects it to be determined. [76470]
15 Mar 1999 : Column: 468
Mr. Meale
[holding answer 12 March 1999]: This appeal was received by the Government Office for the South West in January 1997. The determination process has now reached an advance stage and the decision should be issued by the end of this month.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many employees of the Government Office for the South West are allocated to the determination of appeals involving footpaths. [76471]
Mr. Meale
[holding answer 12 March 1999]: The Government Office for the South West has a team of eight staff dealing with the determination of appeals including rights of way cases.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the earliest date of a case involving a footpath appeal which is still awaiting determination by the Government office in Bristol; and how many more recent cases are awaiting determination. [76469]
Mr. Meale
[holding answer 12 March 1999]: The earliest footpath appeals awaiting determination are a group of nine interlinked appeals which completed the necessary procedural stages in January 1997. There are 21 more such cases awaiting determination.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many right of way appeals are currently outstanding in each of the Government's regional offices. [76468]
Mr. Meale
[holding answer 12 March 1999]: The number of appeal cases currently outstanding in each of the Government's regional offices is shown in the table.
| Regional Office | No. of appeals |
|---|---|
| North West | 5 |
| North East | 4 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 10 |
| East Midlands | 2 |
| West Midlands | 5 |
| Eastern Region | 3 |
| South West | 53 |
| South East (incl. London) | 18 |
| Total | 100 |
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