National park watchdogs warn of 'ticking timebombs'
8th September 2004
Today a report is published by the Council for National Parks (CNP) (1) and the Friends of the Peak District (FPD) (2) which warns that our National Parks are sitting on ticking timebombs in the form of old quarrying permissions.
The report is the culmination of 18 months of research funded by the Countryside Agency (3) through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (4) and has involved National Park Authorities, mineral companies, landowners, local communities and other interested organisations.
The report is being launched at a seminar (5) in central London which will bring together all the interested parties to discuss possible ways forward.
Rachel Reeves, Senior Policy Officer at the Council for National Parks, said: "Surveys for the report identified 20 'active' permissions in National Parks across England which, because of weak legislation, are able to operate without modern environmental conditions. These old permissions therefore have the potential to destroy our top landscapes. A further 33 'dormant' permissions are 'ticking timebombs' which could be reopened at any time up to the year 2042, again with potentially disastrous consequences for landscape, archaeology and nature conservation in our finest countryside." (6)
The report makes a number of recommendations for improvements to both policy and practice aimed at Government, National Park Authorities, the Minerals industry and landowners.
Rachel continued: "We shall be taking the report's recommendations forward and working with all the interested parties to ensure that where possible these time bombs are defused before they cause serious damage to the National Parks".
"This report is a wake-up call to the Government to deal properly with old quarry permissions in our National Parks. We urge it to act to ensure that our Parks are passed on intact for future generations to enjoy".
Notes to editors
1. The Council for National Parks is the national charity that works to protect and enhance the National Parks of England and Wales, and areas that merit National Park status, and promote understanding and quiet enjoyment of them for the benefit of all.
2. The Friends of the Peak District is the National Park Society for the Peak District. It is run by the Peak District and South Yorkshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
3. The Countryside Agency is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is the statutory champion and watchdog working to make the quality of life better for people in the countryside and the quality of the countryside better for everyone.
4. The Aggregates Levy, which came into effect from April 1st 2002, is a tax of £1.60 per tonne on virgin aggregates. It will raise approximately £350 million every year. A proportion of the money raised by the levy goes to make up the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), part of which is intended to fund projects which address the impact of past, present and future aggregates extraction.
5. The seminar is being held on Wednesday 8th September in central London with a wide range of attendees including from minerals companies, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Countryside Agency, National Park Authorities and environmental organisations.
6. The report also identified that 119 'old permissions' were registered across the English National Parks in 1995. For the purposes of the report, 'old permissions' are defined as all mineral permissions granted prior to 22 February 1982 and therefore include both Interim Development Orders (IDOs) (granted between 22 July 1943 and 1 July 1948) and Old Mineral Permissions (OMPs) (granted between 1 July 1948 and 22 Feb 1982). Of the 119 old permissions that were registered in 1995, 11 were IDOs and 108 were OMPs.
Contact: Ruth Chambers on 020 7924 4077 ext. 222
For press queries please contact:
Ruth Chambers, Head of Policy on
020 7924 4077 ext. 222