§ 28. Sir J. Gilmourasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what amount of land in Scotland has gone out of agricultural use for development in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe amounts of agricultural land taken for urban and industrial development for the individual years from June 1967 to June 1972 were respectively 5,250, 6,108, 4,280, 3,827 and 3,447 acres.
§ Sir J. GilmourDoes not this considerable loss of agricultural land show that there is a need to stimulate land reclamation in Scotland?
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithIndeed it does. I think that the Government, in their policies on reclaiming derelict land in particular, have demonstrated their realisation of this need.