34. Mr. John Hallasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what portion of the National Land Fund is to be used to finance the maintenance of national parks and other developments under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI cannot add to the answer which my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Totnes (Brigadier Rayner) on 1st March.
Mr. HallIs it not a fact that when the National Land Fund was first established in 1946, the right hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Mr. Dalton), who was then the Chancellor of the Exchequer, described it as a nest egg which could be used to finance some of the operations envisaged in the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act? As my constituency includes some of the most beautiful countryside in the whole of the British Isles, will my hon. Friend help in its preservation by using the nest egg before it becomes addled?
§ Mr. BrookeIt is quite true that the right hon. Gentleman referred to a nest egg in 1946, but the Government of that day made no provision for using any part of this fund for the purpose of national parks. It would require fresh legislation.