RECLAMATION OF THE LANDSCAPE 327 



This is not a planning requirement, but something we have instituted 

 ourselves in order to reduce the impact of strip mining on the 

 countryside. 



It is now generally accepted in the United Kingdom that, al- 

 though our strip mining operations are unsightly during the working 

 of a site, we do restore the land surface often in an improved con- 

 dition. For example, one site in Scotland, containing between 25 

 and 30 million tons of coal, was useless bogland when we started 

 strip mining five years ago. When complete there will be made avail- 

 able 350 acres of good agricultural land; already part of the site has 

 been restored and sheep are grazing on the grassland. In addition, 

 we will construct a landscaped lake which will provide recreation 

 in the form of sailing and fishing. In other cases we have provided 

 golf courses and sports fields for use of the local people who had 

 been temporarily affected by our strip mining operations. 



Turning now to the question of past dereliction, although again 

 the scale is undoubtedly different, we are, I feel, on common ground 

 in that much of the dereliction in both countries probably tends to 

 be concentrated in the older industrial areas, many of which were 

 developed with little or no regard to the environmental needs of the 

 people who lived and worked there. I cannot help feeling that 

 in areas such as this, properly planned reclamation offers us an 

 opportunity to go some way towards bringing these areas back into 

 line with life in the second half of the 20th century an opportunity 

 to cut adrift from the old ideas of concentrated urban sprawl, and to 

 bring the countryside back into our urban districts so that beauty 

 can in fact become part of our daily life. 



There is little doubt that where dereliction occurs in areas of high 

 population it can have a serious effect on both the social and economic 

 life of those areas. When environment deteriorates the social, 

 sometimes the economic structure tends to deteriorate with it. 



Fortunately, with modern earthmoving and tree-transplanting 

 techniques, we have the means of carrying out reclamation on a 

 scale and at a speed which were undreamed of at the beginning 

 of this century. We have the means, and our generation will be 

 judged by the use we make of them. The answer in both our coun- 

 tries almost certainly lies in how much we are prepared to spend 

 today for the benefit of those who will follow us. 



Mr. DAVISON. The largest of the extractive industries in terms 

 of tons produced are the sand and gravel and the crushed stone 



