HC Deb 26 July 1937 vol 326 cc2664-5
61. Mr. De Chair

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that the Air Ministry are proposing to acquire arable land in the neighbourhood of Methwold, which is at present cultivated by five different farmers for whom there is no alternative land available, for purposes of an auxiliary landing ground; and whether he is satisfied that there is no derelict land in the same neighbourhood that could equally well be adapted?

The Under-Secretary of State for Air (Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead)

I am aware of the proposal referred to, and can assure my hon. Friend that there is in the same neighbourhood no derelict land that could equally well be adapted.

Mr. De Chair

Is my hon. and gallant Friend aware that these are very small farmers who will be left with their farmhouses but without the land they have been fanning, and that there is no alternative land, and will he bear that in mind in connection with any amelioration of their losses?

Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead

I think that in nearly all these cases there are agricultural difficulties. My Department will, if this proposal is put into operation, do its best to place these aerodromes where the least inconvenience is caused?