Written question asked by David Heath (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 18 July 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 25 July 2000. It was answered by Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 July 2000 on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, what the constituent elements are of the average environmental cost of £1.80 per tonne associated with the extraction and transport of aggregates quoted in HM Customs & Excise press release Number 5 of 21st March. - Inc figure.

Answer: Mr. David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the constituent elements are of the average environmental cost of £1.80 per tonne associated with the extraction and transport of aggregates quoted in HM Customs & Excise press release Number 5 of 21 March. [131915] Ms Beverley Hughes: Total environmental cost was estimated as at least £380 million tonnes per annum for 208 million tonnes of land-won primary aggregate. Just over half of the total estimated costs relate to local impacts of quarrying. The remainder relates to the non-local impacts of quarrying in National Parks and AONBs, generated by the application of the national survey results to such areas. It was assumed that quarries outside these areas have an impact only on those who live locally.

Secondary information