§ 3 and 4. Mr. Burdenasked the Minister of Transport (1) what area is covered by, and what price was paid under a compulsory purchase order for, the land now occupied by the Farthing Corner service area on the M.2 motorway; and what price was paid for it by the company owning the service area;
(2) what are the terms and conditions under which the land now occupied by the Farthing Corner service area on the M.2 motorway has been let or leased to the company operating the area; and what annual percentage return on the original purchase price paid by his Department this represents.
§ Mr. MarplesThe Farthing Corner service area covers approximately 18½ acres made up from parts of a number of plots. The approximate cost of the land, which my Ministry will continue to own, was £4,000. It will be leased to the company providing the facilities for a period of 50 years at a fixed annual rent and a percentage on turnover. The lease is lengthy and complicated. I will send a pro forma copy to my hon. Friend, but the financial details are matters of commercial confidence. In any case, it would be fallacious to compare the return with the bare cost of the land purchase.
§ Mr. BurdenIs my right hon. Friend aware that I find his reluctance to give these figures rather extraordinary? Would not he agree that when land is acquired from farmers at or near the agricultural rate and is let to a private company, obviously at a figure based on the commercial activities of that company, it would be proper, right and equitable to ensure that the people who own the land should have the opportunity to carry out negotiations and reap some benefit from the profit of the private company, which is not the job of the Government?
§ Mr. MarplesRegarding compensation, I am bound by the Act which this House passed. The effect of the Land 979 Compensation Act, 1961, and particularly Section 6, is that compensation for land acquired under the Highways Act, 1959, has to be related to the value of the land, without taking into account any increase or decrease in its value brought about by the creation of a motorway at public expense. Therefore, I cannot give compensation on any other basis than that laid down by Parliament. My hon. Friend must remember that so far about £15 million has been spent on the motorway, without which there would be no traffic or trade coming to that service area. That has been brought about by the expenditure of a large amount of public funds. We are spending £170,000 on works in the service area, on levelling, drainage and the construction of vehicle parks and through roads, and so on. Without that expenditure there would be no value.
§ Mr. BurdenWill my right hon. Friend admit that this brings no comfort to people who so lose their land and have their incomes, as happened in the case of this small farmer, cut by 20 per cent.? Is it not time that the whole matter was looked at again? Surely my right hon. Friend will agree that if this argument is right the Government would have the power and the right to acquire land anywhere where they drive a road through land on which they think they can make a profit?
§ Mr. MarplesI hope my hon. Friend will acquit me of any of the guilt, as he calls it, in this respect. Parliament discussed at great length before it passed the Act of Parliament and laid down the terms and conditions which I must keep to. What Parliament had in mind when passing the Land Compensation Act, 1961, and the Highways Act, 1959, was that in those areas there would be no development at all but for the large expenditure of public funds.