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It is a fundamental principle of the planning system that each application must be decided on its individual planning merits following consultation, as my hon. Friend said, with those potentially affected. The decision on the suitability of a site for a particular development rests with the relevant planning authority or, on appeal, with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. As my hon. Friend said, proceedings for a judicial review on the planning decision have been issued by solicitors acting on behalf of the protest group. As a result, I am sorry to say that it would not be appropriate for me to
comment on individual planning issues at the site. I am unclear about the extent to which Basildon council consulted the county council. However, I understand that Essex county council has expressed disappointment that it was not fully consulted on whether the development should be considered as a county matter.
I have heard with concern what my hon. Friend said about the position of Natural England, and as the Minister with responsibility for biodiversity, I shall undertake to look into that further. For all the other reasons stated, I shall draw the matter to the attention of the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright), who has responsibility for housing and planning.
Waste recovery and disposal activities are governed by a system of permits designed to protect the environment and human health. European legislation provides member states with the discretion to provide for exemptions from the need to have a permit for recovery operations. My hon. Friend the Member for Basildon asked how much landfill tax could be raised if a quarter of the waste that is currently exempted from the tax were not exempt, but we aim to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and encourage the bona fide reuse, recycling and recovery of waste wherever it is legitimately possible.
To that end, the Government make extensive use of exemptions in order to apply a light regulatory touch and to encourage low-risk recycling and recovery operations. When the deposit of waste constitutes recovery, golf courses and other landscaping developments can benefit from one of the exemptions currently provided for, which my hon. Friend now knows are called paragraph 19 exemptions, after the relevant part of the regulations from which they derive.
The exemptions are valid only if the works in question are carried out in accordance with planning legislation, and it is limited to the types and origin of wastes detailed in the regulations. It is required that the operation be registered with the Environment Agency. Registration of an exemption is a much simpler system than permitting and does not in itself require consultation. A notification of an exempt activity at the site in question was received by the Environment Agency on 19 December last year. From the information supplied, the Environment Agency is satisfied that the proposal meets the terms of the exemption.
My hon. Friend asked how many such exemptions there are. There are currently more than 2,700 paragraph 19 exemptions registered with the Environment Agency. An exemption allows waste to be used for a range of purposes, not just the landscaping of golf courses. They include noise screens for major roads, foundations for new housing developments and the repair of roads and tracks using waste. I think that she might have wondered how many of the exemptions are for golf courses, but I am afraid that I am unable to tell her.
My hon. Friend asked a number of questions about the monitoring and enforcement of exemptions. The Environment Agency has a duty to inspect any site being managed under an exemption, to ensure that the terms of that exemption are being adhered to. It is also responsible for responding to complaints or allegations of unlawful activity. If the purpose of the activity
changes from what was originally registered and does not fit with the allowed purpose of the exemption, the developer is required to re-register the exemption with the Environment Agency.
My hon. Friend asked about paragraph 19 exemptions that have ceased to apply, and I can tell her that just three have been deregistered in the past year. She asked about developments at other golf courses, such as the one at Risebridge park. As a result of concerns raised by the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), I have asked the Environment Agency to look into the activities at that site. I have also been advised that Environment Agency staff in the Thames, north-east area are in the process of setting up workshops with the relevant local authorities to discuss how they can work in partnership with regard to golf course developments.
I believe that work has not yet started at Basildon golf course, but I want to give my hon. Friend an undertaking that, should the project proceed, I will ask the Environment Agency to monitor the site closely and report its findings to me. If the activities are not being carried out in accordance with the exemption criteria, or if pollution of the environment or any risk of harm to human health occurs, the Environment Agency will remove the exemption registration and require the developer to stop the activity or obtain an environmental permit. I am confident that the Environment Agency has sufficient powers and that it will use them to take appropriate enforcement action against any unlawful operators, or against those causing harm or pollution.
This important debate and other communications from hon. Members have highlighted widespread concerns about the sometimes inappropriate use of the paragraph 19 exemption for “sham” recovery to avoid the costs of landfilling. As a result of that and other issues connected with waste exemptions, a review of the exemptions regime is already well under way—something that my hon. Friend suggested should happen.
The minimisation of abuses of the system is a key priority for that review, as is the need to encourage genuinely low-risk and small-scale recycling and recovery operations. A consultation is due to be launched this summer, with a new scheme of exemptions being delivered in October next year. My hon. Friend may want to make some representations to that review.
As part of the review, we have drawn on evidence from the Environment Agency, and on its experience of regulating exemptions in England and Wales. We have also made an assessment of the risks that those activities pose. As a result, our proposals will set out that the paragraph 19 exemption for the use of waste for construction purposes must be tightened significantly. There is currently no quantity limit on the amount of waste that can be used under the exemption—and it is clear that quantity is one of my hon. Friend’s major concerns—but the proposals include the implementation of a very low quantity threshold for the exemption. Projects that are above the threshold—that group would clearly include the sort of operation that she described—will be required to operate under an environmental permit, with the additional regulatory controls that come with it.
I have much more to tell my hon. Friend, such as the fact that we have introduced a mandatory system of site waste management plans that will require those running construction, demolition and excavation projects to draw up plans to reduce the waste that they produce, and to manage properly its recovery and disposal. We have many actions in hand that we hope will contribute to preventing operations that may turn out to be scams. We very much appreciate that there needs to be a better interface between planning and the granting of environmental permits, and work is in hand to produce a protocol for use by planning authorities and the Environment Agency.
I conclude by thanking my hon. Friend for securing the debate. Although I am not able to consider the specific planning issues, I hope that I have been able to make it clear that the Government recognise the problems that are occurring in the sector. They can cause the great distress, which she highlighted on behalf of her constituents, about an amenity that is clearly much valued in her constituency. I hope that I have also made it clear that we are addressing those issues. Legislation is in place to protect both the environment and people, and we need to be sure that it is doing so effectively.
Adjourned accordingly at half-past Six o’clock.
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