HC Deb 03 June 1947 vol 438 cc10-1
25. Lieut.-Colonel Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

asked the Secretary of State for War why it is considered necessary permanently to retain and extend the Stanford battle area, and if it would be possible to reduce the 28,000 acres involved so as to exclude all cultivated agricultural land.

Mr. Bellenger

The position remains as stated in reply to the hon. Member for Orpington (Sir W. Smithers) on 22nd April. No decision has yet been taken by His Majesty's Government regarding the future of this area.

Lieut.-Colonel Clifton-Brown

Could the Minister say why it is necessary to retain any of this area at all, as the numbers in the Eastern area are now so greatly reduced from what they were in the war?

Mr. Bellenger

This is all part of a much larger problem, and the time is not very far distant now when His Majesty's Government will be making their considered views known to the House.

Mr. Medlicott

Is the Minister aware that Norfolk has already lost a great deal of good agricultural land through the claims of the Royal Air Force, and would he not give most careful consideration to moving this away from the county altogether?

Mr. Bellenger

I would only wish that I could meet the views of hon. Gentlemen in all parts of the country who want precisely the same thing, but if we are to have an Army, we must have somewhere to train it. I would ask the House to await the statement, which may not be very far distant now, when His Majesty's Government will state the case quite clearly for all hon. Members to consider.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

Was not a definite pledge given, so far as this particular area was concerned, that it would be returned at the end of the war; and was not that pledge given by G.O.C., Eastern Command, on behalf of the War Office?

Mr. Bellenger

I do not think that I can go into that now; as I say, it is all part of a-much larger problem.

Sir Waldron Smithers

Would the Secretary of State for War say when the decision can be given, so that local authorities and local activities can know what plans they can make?

Mr. Bellenger

Very soon, I hope.

Sir William Darling

Will the right hon. Gentlemen in coming to their decision, have in mind that in England the population is 714 to the square mile, whereas in Scotland it is 165 to the square mile?