§ 1. Mr Chapmanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress of his consultations as to whether changes should be made in the classification and grading of agricultural land.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Jerry Wiggin)My consultations with the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services are nearing completion.
They will be followed by consultations with the agriculture industry, the local authority associations and the representative bodies of the professions and organisations which are concerned with development.
§ Mr. ChapmanDoes my hon. Friend agree that much land that is classified as grade 3 is good, productive agricultural land? Is it not misleading to put such land in the same category as poorer agricultural land, especially at a time when the Government want to discourage good agricultural land from being used for urban development, except as a last resort?
§ Mr. WigginMy hon. Friend is right. About 2.8 per cent. of the land is grade 1, 14.6 per cent. is grade 2 and 48.9 per cent. is grade 3. I believe that it is because my hon. Friend and I see eye to eye that he is pressing me to make sure that grade 3 land is not thought of as third-class, which it is not.