§ 32. Mr. Willisasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many improvement orders have been made under the Land Drainage (Scotland) Act, 1958 and the acreage of land covered by these orders.
§ Mr. MaclaySo far, only one improvement order involving twenty-nine acres of agricultural land has been made under this Act.
§ Mr. WillisIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that it will take 20,000 years to reclaim the land which it was proposed to reclaim under the Act? Does not he think that he should give much more urgent attention to this matter? It is important, and something ought to be done.
§ Mr. MaclayI agree about the importance of the matter, but there are at present sixty-four applications for orders at various stages of consideration. The problem is that the new procedure and safeguards included in the Act mean that, to begin with, at any rate, progress must necessarily be slow.