§ MR. DOBSON (Plymouth)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that numerous complaints have been made that the firing practice from Bovisand, Picklecombe, and Tregantle forts off Plymouth, and especially from a gunboat stationed at Cawsand, is a constant danger to the fishermen engaged in fishing in the vicinity; whether any arrangement was made by the War Office and Naval authorities about two years ago that such firing should take place on Saturdays and Mondays only; and, if so, why such arrangement has not been adhered to.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) None of the complaints to which my hon. friend referred have reached me. None 1287 have reached either the War Office or the General Officer Commanding at Plymouth as regards firing from Bovisand, Picklecombe, or Tregantle Forts. As regards the gunboat at Cawsand I have no knowledge of this, and I must refer him to my right hon. friend the Secretary to the Admiralty. The arrangement as regards firing on Saturdays and Mondays refers only to the Whitesand Bay batteries and there is no reason to suppose that the by-laws governing such firing have been infringed.