§ 80. Mr. Hollinsasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the number of allotments is declining each year and thereby lessening a valuable source of food supply; and whether he will consider introducing legislation to help local authorities and allotment associations to acquire land permanently for allotments and give security of tenure to allotment holders?
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonIt is true that, according to the returns collected by my Department, there has been a slight continued decline in recent years in the number of allotments in urban areas, but the decline in acreage since 1930 is less than 3 per cent. I appreciate the importance of maintaining an adequate number of permanent allotments and local authorities already have ample powers to purchase land for this purpose. Proposals to facilitate the purchase of land by allotment associations would, however, require legislation, and I am afraid that the pressure on Parliamentary time precludes this possibility during the present Session.