§ 79. Mr. MACNEILL WEIRasked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he is aware that. a number of men who are unable to obtain accommodation in Stornoway for themselves and their families, and who were not put in possession of small holdings, have, since the summer of 1921, been occupying, with their families, huts erected by them on the barren moorlands a few miles from the town; that the said moorland is now claimed to be part of the common grazings, and that the corner of it taken up by the huts is of little or no value, and had not been used by the adjacent. crofters: that legal proceedings have been taken in the local Sheriff Court for the removal, or ejection, or eviction of these men and their families from the said huts, although no other shelter is available for them; whether the company that claims to own the Lews, and of which Lord Leverhulme is chief director, is a party to these proceedings: whether the Board of Agriculture has power to acquire part of this moorland as sites for houses: whether the Board has been approached on the subject: and whether it intends to use its powers in time to provide for the occupants of the huts above referred to?
§ Captain ELLIOTMy Noble Friend is informed that land at Marybank on the Coulregein Common grazings was occupied in 1921 in the manner stated in the first part of the question. He understands that legal proceedings in the 235 Sheriff Court have been taken by the proprietors. The Board of Agriculture have certain powers under Section 14 of the Land Settlement Act, 1919, to apply to the Land Court for the apportionment of common grazing land as sites for houses. The Board have been approached on the subject, and have found that the land on which the huts stand is unsuitable for housing sites owing to insufficient drainage. The Board are making inquiry as to the possibility of suitable alternative ground being available.