HC Deb 19 November 1969 vol 791 cc1294-5
13. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has for taking into public ownership all the lochs and rivers in Scotland, so as to ensure the fullest use of all their amenities by the entire populace.

Mr. Buchan

The Countryside (Scotland) Act, 1967, already enables various public authorities to provide recreational facilities on water, if necessary following compulsory purchase procedure.

Mr. Hamilton

But is my hon. Friend aware—he must be—that that is a completely unsatisfactory answer? When are his Government going to take their finger out in these matters—and nationalise the lochs and the rivers of Scotland, without compensation, so that the population as a whole can enjoy amenities which are so far denied them?

Mr. Buchan

As my hon. Friend will know—to answer the first part of his question—I was aware that he would think it an unsatisfactory answer, but it would be wrong of me to comment on any final decision we may make. The task, as I have said, is to come up at the right time with the right radical answer to the problem which has been posed.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

Is the Under-Secretary of State aware of the considerable extent to which the rivers in my constituency are already under public ownership, with access to them, and that this means simply that I have to pass to him from time to time complaints which come from local anglers and others?

Mr. Buchan

I would not like to make a comment on that, but I would think that it would be pretty favourable to the publicly-controlled structure rather than to the privately controlled structure, like that represented, for example, by my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness and Sutherland (Mr. Maclennan). I think that any ordinary angler in Scotland could have informed the hon. Member of this if he had tried himself to investigate the position.