HC Deb 06 August 1940 vol 363 cc15-6
28. Mr. Mathers

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the price paid for Calderwood Estate, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, by the Special Areas Commissioner; what is the estimated cost of erecting cottages and carrying out other improvements since the estate was acquired; whether the subjects are producing food to full capacity at present; and why they are being offered for sale instead of being converted into smallholdings?

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Ernest Brown)

The price paid for the Calderwood estate by the Commissioner for the Special Areas in Scotland was £14,500. Subsequent capital expenditure is estimated at £17,000, including £6,500 for cottages and £7,900 for tomato houses. The experiment for which the estate was originally acquired was concluded last year, when it was decided after careful consideration that owing to the nature of the land the property was not one which could be converted into smallholdings with any prospect of success. The estate has since been fully developed as a dairying subject and for the production of glass house crops.