HC Deb 28 October 1947 vol 443 cc683-4
30. Mr. Edward Evans

asked the Secretary of State for War how much land in the county of Suffolk, capable of being used profitably for agricultural purposes, is occupied by his Department for training and establishment purposes; and how much is to be released and when.

Mr. Shinwell

My Department at present holds under Defence Regulation 51 a total of 18,326 acres of land in Suffolk. Of this area 9,455 acres are being rehabilitated by Civil Departments and will be released when the process is complete, 230 acres are being cleared of unexploded missiles and a further 165 acres are also due to be released. The Inter-Departmental Committee on Service Land Requirements is considering proposals to retain permanently the balance of 8,476 acres. Of this area only about 1,225 acres could be classified as agricultural land.

Mr. Evans

Would my right hon. Friend tell me how much land in Suffolk was held by his Department before the war?

Mr. Shinwell

I am afraid I could not off-hand, but I will give an answer if my hon. Friend will put down a question.

Mr. Evans

In view of the urgent need for extending agricultural production in Suffolk, will my right hon. Friend use every endeavour to expedite the release of this land?

Mr. Shinwell

We are in the process or releasing as much land as possible and we have released a great deal, but hon. Members must bear this in mind that if we are to train the Army efficiently we must have training grounds for them.

Lieut.-Colonel Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Will the Minister for War tell us from what map he got the figures of land now under cultivation. The one I have seen was one which was made up before the war, but since then the war agricultural committee have brought into use a great deal of land used for agriculture.

Mr. Shinwell

I cannot say when the map was prepared but I am sure it was up to date.

Mr. J. H. Hare

Is it true or not that the right hon. Gentleman's Department are intending to requisition at least another 20,000 acres in the Elveden area of Suffolk and if that is really the case, will he seriously consider the great disadvantage to agriculture of any such step?

Mr. Shinwell

In any requisitioning proposals made, we are taking all precautions possible to ensure that good agricultural land should not be taken over if it can be avoided. As I have already said, however, we have to train the Army and we must have training areas for that purpose.