§ 5. Mr. Bonham Carterasked the Secretary of State for War why his Department has erected a blockhouse on Okehampton Common within Dartmoor National Park without consulting the local planning authority.
§ Mr. SoamesA small hut has been built to hold equipment on the Okehampton firing range. No approach was made to the planning authorities because the building is inconspicuous and does not affect the use of the area by the public.
§ Mr. Bonham CarterI am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for this information, but will not he agree that it is not altogether satisfactory? Is it not also the case that where an area of common land is enclosed the rights of commoners have to be extinguished by an application to the Minister of Agriculture? Has such an application been made?
§ Mr. SoamesThe Question referred to planning authority. This is a range which has been in use for some while and we needed moving target equipment which had to be housed in a hut which is 20 ft. by 20 ft. by 10 ft. high. It is nothing very serious, and it does not in any way alter the character of the land in question.