I would go much further than that, and within the bounds of libel, say that it is outrageous. It is totally wrong and it takes the local community for fools. It will be resisted, and I am assured that the provisions on the green belt—these proposals all concern the green belt, whether they are for open-cast mining or for housing—are greatly supported, for example, by the comments of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government:
“The green belt is an important protection against urban sprawl, providing a green lung around towns and cities. The national planning policy framework delivers the coalition’s agreement to safeguard the green belt. Inappropriate development should not be approved in the green belt, and boundaries should be altered only in exceptional circumstances.”—[Official Report, 17 September 2012; Vol. 550, c. 619-620.]
I endorse that entirely.
I finish my brief contribution by assuring my constituents and colleagues that such actions are not what localism is about, nor is it what responsible mining companies are about. This kind of shady operator creates an atmosphere, frankly, of nimbyism, and I do not blame people in the slightest for being against such developments. I, for one, will be doing everything that I can to support them, as well as everything in my power to stop such companies.
3.4 pm