§ 1. Mr. Matthew BanksTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps are being taken to promote the new moorland scheme.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Michael Jack)The details of the scheme are under active consideration and we hope to be able to launch the scheme before the end of the year.
§ Mr. BanksI am grateful to my hon. Friend. Is not the moorland scheme an excellent example of an environmental dimension to farming? Does not the Government's approach contrast starkly with that of the Labour party, which seems all too obsessed with having councillors in charge of farms in the countryside, rather than the farmers who know something about the subject?
§ Mr. JackMy hon. Friend has been assiduous in his reading of the Opposition's propaganda on the matter, and his interpretation of it is correct. We attach much importance to the environmental dimension in agriculture, but we want farmers to respond to our many schemes positively.
§ Mr. BennettHow much extra public access to moorland will there be under the scheme? Is not it scandalous that vast sums of public money are given to landowners who deny the public access to areas such as the forest of Bowland or the north Yorkshire moors?
§ Mr. JackIf the hon. Gentleman has studied the vast number of environmental options available he will know that there are two specific schemes aimed at increasing access, particularly to districts such as environmentally sensitive areas—a subject on which he has probed me at the Dispatch Box. The moorlands scheme is designed to help the regeneration of heather moorland, thus making it much more pleasant for the hon. Gentleman and his friends to walk on.