HC Deb 30 June 1949 vol 466 cc1512-3
54. Mr. Collins

asked the Minister of Agriculture why the Forestry Commission have leased some 1,200 acres of land on the Dunster Castle Estate in the Quantock Hills, in view of the fact that this is a proposed national park area.

Mr. T. Williams

The Forestry Commission are negotiating this lease because the land is eminently suitable for timber production, which is an urgent national requirement. The fact that land is within a proposed national park should not preclude the use of suitable areas for the growing of trees.

Mr. Collins

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this land is already bearing a great deal of timber far more valuable than the conifers which the Forestry Commission would plant, and will he look again into this question in view of the great concern which exists in the neighbourhood and the likelihood of causing damage to the rights of the commoners there?

Mr. Williams

My information is that the land referred to contains mainly small coppices of an inferior nature which are overgrown and, therefore, are pretty useless.

Earl Winterton

In justice to the Forestry Commission, can the right hon. Gentleman make it clear that in all these forests which are open to the public under proper precautions, many people find the young trees not only attractive in themselves but a valuable future source of profit to the country?

Mr. Williams

I could not agree more with the noble Lord. A walk through any of the adjacent woodlands of the Forestry Commission, in which planting began in 1922, will show that the Commission's woods have considerable beauty.