HC Deb 08 July 1982 vol 27 cc441-2
3. Mr. Heddle

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he will take to ensure that good quality agricultural land is not lost to the industry.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mrs. Peggy Fenner)

My Department will continue to ensure that Government policy for the protection of agricultural land is applied in accordance with Department of the Environment circular 75/76.

Mr. Heddle

As nearly 1,000 acres of good agricultural land are lost each week to roads, runways, reservoirs, houses and factories, is it not of prime importance that the planner's pen ploughs a furrow through the poorest quality land before it alights on the best quality land?

Mrs. Fenner

I wholly agree. Paragraph 3 of the DOE circular seeks to ensure that higher quality land is not used where lower quality land is available and that no more is taken than is needed for the development.

Mr. Newens

Is the Minister aware of the strong criticism of the supine evidence that the Ministry advanced about the loss of good agricultural land through the massive expansion of Stansted? Will she consider the issue and reassure the House that the Ministry will take a stronger line in future?

Mrs. Fenner

I do not accept the criticism of the Ministry's stand on Stansted. Ministry representatives try to ensure that there is no loss of high quality land. They battle for agricultural land in the way that the hon. Gentleman suggests they should.

Mr. Neil Thorne

Has my hon. Friend seen the discussion paper on forestry and land use issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, of which I am a member? Does she feel that it has a contribution to make?

Mrs. Fenner

Such a distinguished body always has a contribution to make.

Mr. Chapman

In the close consultation between the Ministry and the Department of the Environment on the development of good agricultural land, will my hon. Friend make the sensible representation to the Secretary of State for the Environment that all good agricultural land that is subject to planning application should be called in under section 35 of the 1971 Act as a matter of course?

Mrs. Fenner

My Ministry is consulted at all stages in the preparation of structural and local plans and on all planning applications affecting more than 4 hectares of agricultural land that do not conform to an agreed development plan.