HC Deb 21 December 1944 vol 406 cc1934-5
46. Sir William Davison

asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the devastation of our already insufficient woodlands by the cutting down of trees during the present war to meet urgent national needs for timber; and what steps are being taken to make good this loss to the nation's security and health and increase our timber acreage from the lowest in Europe by planting some of the 7,000,000 acres of waste land which is unsuitable for agriculture.

Mr. Attlee

Sir, I think it is one of the most important things in the life of our country. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will do his very best at any time to help it; but he asks my hon. Friend to wait for some abatement of the pressure of the war before making definite proposals.

Sir W. Davison

Do the Government recognise the necessity of making an immediate start by the establishment of training centres for the training of men suitable for forestry work, so that there may be no delay in dealing with what, I am glad to hear, the Government consider to be a very important matter immediately after the war?

Mr. Attlee

That is rather a different matter, and perhaps my hon. Friend will put down a Question about training.

Mr. J. J. Lawson

Is my right hon. Friend aware that it has already been announced in the House that these woodlands and, indeed, the trunks of trees that are being torn down will be restored, and that it is only a matter of giving a decision; and will he bear in mind the fact that we have only a few rare clumps of trees in some industrial districts and that they are being taken away; and is it not necessary, for the purposes of amenity, to replace those trees?

Mr. Attlee

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend.

Sir W. Davison

But surely this is all part of the same question, and it is an urgent matter that these men should be trained now, so as to be able to take up the work immediately after the war?

Mr. Attlee

I am not denying the point but only suggesting that, if the hon. Member needs a proper reply, he should put the Question down.