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§ Mr. Anthony Steen (South Hams)I am most grateful for an opportunity to discuss Dartmoor national park, a subject close to my heart and close to your constituency, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I raised the subject of Dartmoor in an Adjournment debate in February 1988. I have great a love for Dartmoor. I am a life member of the Dartmoor Preservation Association, and I pay tribute to the association's patron, Lady Sylvia Sayer, who has done more for Dartmoor and the environment than nearly any other person. I also want to recognise the work of my former research assistant Kate Ashbrook. She worked with me on the Dartmoor Commoners Bill, and is now chairman of the Ramblers Association and general secretary of the Open Spaces Society.
My request for a further debate has been prompted by the appalling accident on 18 June this year, when three young children were seriously injured near Great Mis Tor—some 1,700 ft up on the moor and about a mile north of Princetown—when a mortar bomb exploded.
The Worrall family was out enjoying an afternoon in the Dartmoor national park. They are letterbox enthusiasts, as so many of my constituents are. I myself am a letterbox enthusiast. In letterboxing, walkers hide boxes on the moor for fellow wanderers to discover. There are books about letterboxing which show where letterboxes may be placed. In the old days, there were five letterboxes in the most remote parts of the moor.
The idea was that, when one got to a remote letterbox, one left a postcard there. The next person who came to the letterbox would stamp the postcard and take the card back to a proper post box at the edge of the moor. Sometimes, one would not get a card for three to six months, such was the inaccessibility of the letterboxes.
There used to be five small post boxes in inaccessible parts of the moor. Today, there are some 3,000 letterboxes. It has become a huge sport, in which competition is fierce and enthusiasts are determined. Children and adults alike engage in a harmless but amusing pursuit, but it means that people rummage in nooks and crannies and upturn rocks and boulders to find their prize. It is an innocent pastime that occupies a good deal of leisure interest throughout the national park. Many thousands of people are now members of a society for letterboxing enthusiasts.
Unfortunately, in her enthusiasm to try to find a letterbox near Great Mis Tor, Jenny Worrall, aged eight, touched an unexploded mortar bomb and was badly injured. I am pleased to be able to tell the House that Jenny—despite undergoing two operations to remove shrapnel, and having been in intensive care for some time—is now in a general ward in Plymouth, and is making great progress. Her brothers Gary, aged 10, and Ricky, aged 9, have each made a good recovery from their shrapnel wounds.
Apparently, five people have been killed on Dartmoor by mortar shells since 1951, and two civilian injuries have been caused by military activity on the moor as well. The Dartmoor national park was created in 1951 as one of 10 national parks formed principally to provide urban dwellers with open spaces in which to roam, explore and 340 escape from it all. The parks were designed to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area, and promote its enjoyment by the public.
The parks are some of the most guarded areas in Britain, and are protected from intrusion by development, noise or nuisance. The question must be asked—how can the military's use of such a national park for live firing with ammunition be consistent and compatible with the purposes for which the park was established?
There are three principal ranges in the Dartmoor national park—Okehampton, Merrivale and Willsworthy. I remember visiting the Willsworthy range with you, Madam Deputy Speaker, where we saw what was being done there. It is true that the number of days on which live firing takes place is reducing. The data that I have received for 1994 are particularly interesting. While the permitted number of days for firing at Okehampton was 112, the range was actually used on only 50 days. On Merrivale range, the permitted use was 173 days, but only 73 days were used. On Willsworthy, 232 days were permitted, but only 108 were used.
It is clear that the actual use of the ranges is about 50 per cent. less. than the permitted use. If that is a general picture, and if similar spare capacity exists across the Ministry of Defence's estates, there must be scope for priority release of training areas on Dartmoor. Surely we must review the need for so many training sites and the cost of those sites if each is under-used to that degree.
In 1993, the Public Accounts Committee highlighted the shortcomings in the management of available Army training land. There was widespread dismay in 1991 when the licence periods for Okehampton and Merrivale were renewed by the Duchy of Cornwall for 21 years, as opposed to the usual seven years. It was as if the Duchy felt that it had no interest in the fact that the national park should be protected from a further extension of military use.
Agricultural set-aside could provide alternative opportunities and locations for military live firing. What is the point of laying off more and more agricultural land from agricultural use if that land is not used for something beneficial? Why should we pound Dartmoor with more and more live fire? Why should there be military training in the wildest and most beautiful countryside in the nation? Why are 13,340 hectares-7 per cent. of the total area of the Dartmoor national park—designated for military use and live firing?
As more people explore the moor, the more likely it is that there will be a recurrence of the tragic accident of 18 June. Dartmoor attracts 8 million visitors a year, and we know that 357,338 people visited the eight information centres in the national park between 1993 and 1994.
Some people believe that, as Dartmoor has been used for military training since 1870—some 80 years before the national park was set up—and that live firing also took place before the national park was established, live firing should take precedence. They believe that it is not relevant that the Dartmoor Preservation Association was formed 13 years after military training started in 1870, and has been opposing live firing ever since.
The conflict is not so much about military manoeuvres and dry training—proper uses of a national park—but firing live ammunition. The conflict between military requirements and public access and environmental considerations has been a matter of continuous controversy. It was investigated in the Nugent report, and in the Sharp report, which noted: 341
military training and a national park are discordant, incongruous and inconsistent".It has also been considered in the Edwards report.I recognise the need to defend the realm and to train our military. I greatly respect the work done in my constituency by the Britannia royal naval college at Dartmouth, HMS Cambridge at Wembury and the marines in Bickleigh. Their manoeuvres involve dry training, firing blanks and physical endurance tests. They do not involve firing live ammunition.
It is interesting to note that the cessation of the cold war seems to have increased the need for live firing in this country. The British Army used to train extensively in Germany, as well as in the United Kingdom. Now that the troops are back from Germany, they are pounding around our national parks in increasing numbers.
Part of the Luneburg training area in northern Germany is a national park. The public outcry was so immense throughout Germany at a national park being used for live firing that the German Government were forced to find an alternative site for that type of training. Live firing no longer occurs on the Luneburg training area.
The House may be interested to learn that no other European country permits live firing on any area within a national park. When the Minister replies, I hope that he will explain why Britain is the only country in the European Union that allows its national parks to be used for live firing.
While the national park authority pursues its principle towards the ultimate withdrawal of military use and reductions in the restrictions imposed upon public access, another accident is waiting to happen. That is inevitable, and the military know it. Perhaps the Dartmoor national park should be renamed the Dartmoor military park.
It is not good enough to say that there have not been many accidents. There are unexploded mortars on many parts of the moor, and more and more are being discharged every week, so it is inevitable that another accident is waiting to happen, especially when that national park provides open access to the public to enjoy the countryside.
It is not good enough for the Government to say that signs are posted to warn people not to pick up items, or they may be blown up. Dartmoor is a national park for the public's enjoyment, not a place of danger where people should guard against everything they do.
I call on the Government to review the necessity for live firing and military training in our national parks. They should carry out a full investigation into whether, as a result of the alternative land use policy that the Government have rightly pursued, new areas of land that were formerly used for agriculture could now be better used for live firing and military training. That is the only way in which another terrible accident can be avoided.
What is required of the British Government? They should follow the lead set by the German Government and find another site, unless live firing could be confined to a specific area of Dartmoor which would pose no danger to the public. Without that commitment, people will continue to stumble across unexploded ammunition, particularly if they are letterboxing and looking in nooks and crevices for the boxes.
342 Safety procedures could be made more rigorous, but I doubt whether they would solve the problem. Dartmoor should be used to the full, but the more it is used for hunting, hang-gliding, orienteering, or other leisure pursuits, the more likely it is that another accident will happen, however careful the military are.
I pay tribute to the meticulous way in which the military decide where and how they fire, but I fear that, when one is dealing with dangerous explosives, people will inevitably stumble across an unexploded bomb. Any accident is one too many.
I am not suggesting that more rules and regulations should be introduced, or that we should have more registers and more bureaucracy. I do not think that that will help. Better signs might be useful, but not more pieces of paper. That would be nothing but an administrative expense. What is required is to use land other than national parks for military firing, and there is other land available.
The tragic accident of 18 June need not have happened. I hope that the Minister will realise that one of the best jobs he could do, as long as he remains in his post, is to find alternative land, so that live firing—not the military—can be confined to certain areas.
I am grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to raise this matter.
§ The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Nicholas Soames)I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Hams (Mr. Steen) on raising this important matter. I should like to begin by expressing my deep regret over the unfortunate accident that occurred during the afternoon of Sunday 18 June on the Dartmoor training area. I obviously wish Jenny and Gary Worral a full and speedy recovery, and I am glad to hear that they are making good progress.
As I told my hon. Friend last night, I have trained as a soldier so much on Dartmoor that I am confident that I could find my way from A to B without a map. The unfortunate incident occurred close to Great Mis Tor, part of the moor with which I am sure that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, are familiar.
It appears that, during a visit to the national park, a family from Ashburton had been engaged, as my hon. Friend said, in the pursuit of letterboxing. While the family had paused for a rest, one of the children apparently picked up a metal object, which subsequently exploded, causing serious stomach and spleen injuries to the girl, aged eight, and shrapnel injuries to one of the two boys who was with her. Our early investigations have revealed that the munition involved was a 2 in mortar round, which was manufactured in March 1942.
As my hon. Friend knows, a military board of inquiry has already been established to investigate the matter, and the full circumstances surrounding the case will not be clear until the board has concluded its investigations.
National parks have accommodated many uses since their creation. They are indeed living, working landscapes. My Department employs about 50 people at Dartmoor and contributes considerably to the local community. I am sure that my hon. Friend will want to bear that in mind when weighing his remarks. I believe 343 that that should be taken into account when formulating policy for the national parks, and that we should recognise their entirely legitimate uses.
Of course, a balance rightly must be struck between those legitimate uses and the understandable wish of the public to enjoy the peace and tranquillity which those parks offer. Although military training may not conform to the general perception of quiet enjoyment, it is often forgotten that it is that very military presence which has helped to preserve and secure the exceptionally beautiful and varied landscape which attracts so many visitors to the national parks.
On the issue of military training generally, and the use of military parks in particular, my hon. Friend will know that the draw-down of forces from Germany and the introduction of new weapon systems are placing significant demands on our training areas. Some must be used more intensively, and others developed to provide new infrastructure. While use of training land will be maximised, we are of course conscious that this needs to be balanced against the interests of conservation.
It is an often forgotten fact that the Army has had a presence in the national parks since long before they were designated as such. At Otterburn, for example, the military training area was established in 1911, some 45 years before it was designated as a national park. As my hon. Friend rightly said, there has been a military presence on Dartmoor since the early 19th century, again many years before the national park was created.
The military presence in those areas has done a great deal to enhance and conserve the landscape and the natural environment. Salisbury plain is a superb example of an area where the long history of military training has helped to preserve one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe and one of the finest examples of chalk downland in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. SoamesIf I my hon. Friend will allow me, I must press on.
My hon. Friend mentioned the need for safety in the national parks. It has, of course, long been the policy of my Department to provide the greatest possible degree of safe public access to the defence estate. With that in mind, the Department has reached agreements with the landowners and the Dartmoor national park authority to stop military training on Dartmoor every weekend throughout the year, and to permit unrestricted public access.
§ Mr. SteenIt is not the miliary use of Dartmoor—everyone understands and accepts that we must have a location in the south-west where military training can go on—but the live firing that concerns me.
§ Mr. SoamesIf my hon. Friend will try to contain himself, I hope to come to that point.
As I have said, the Department has reached extensive agreements to ensure public access. I should like to make it quite plain to the House that we have no intention of altering our policy on public access. We shall continue to encourage it wherever it is consistent with essential operational, security and safety requirements, and with the interests of conservation and of our landlords and tenants.
344 On Dartmoor, the arrangements for managing military training and public access are monitored and guided by the Dartmoor steering group. That is a non-departmental public body which was established in 1978, following a recommendation in the report by Lady Sharpe on military use of the Dartmoor national park. The steering group is made up of representatives from my Department, the Dartmoor national park authority, Devon county council, English Nature, English Heritage, the Countryside Commission and the owner, the Duchy of Cornwall.
The group's principal aim is to reconcile the requirements of military training, conservation and public access on Dartmoor. At present, it meets annually under an independent chairman, Sir Anthony Barrowclough QC, who is appointed jointly by the Department of the Environment and the Ministry of Defence. Sir Anthony has been extremely successful in enhancing public access and conservation, while at the same time advising on the balance between the military presence and the interests of the national park, the Duchy and, not least, the general public. We are not complacent. despite of his excellent work. As my hon. Friend said, Dartmoor training area has been used for military training for many hundreds of years, and it was used extensively for live firing by British and American forces in preparation for D-day.
The very regrettable incident which occurred recently highlights the fact that not only is there a danger as far as live firing areas on our ranges are concerned, but also some small risk remains in those parts of our training areas which were used as live firing areas in the past—for example, during the second world war. Buried munitions can and do work their way to the surface, and there is always a slight risk, even after clearance, that ordnance may appear on the surface. As my hon. Friend may know, when a blind is fired these days, the most extensive efforts are made to locate it.
At Dartmoor, my officials and local range staff do all they can to alert members of the public to the dangers, and there are a number of measures currently in place with which my hon. Friend is familiar. The live firing areas are clearly defined and marked, and there are warning boards on all main public access routes into them. Periodic sweeps of the training areas are also carried out in order to clear unexploded devices.
However, despite those efforts, there remains the possibility that some ordnance could rise to the surface and remain undetected, even after a full search has been made. That is the case not only on Dartmoor but also, regrettably, throughout the United Kingdom wherever there are likely to be munitions—some of which could have remained undisturbed, and possibly unstable, for 100 years or more.
I am therefore concerned that we do all that we possibly can to draw the potential risks of unexploded ordnance devices to the attention of as many visitors to our training areas as possible. In that respect, my noble Friend Lord Henley, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, has recently written to the chairmen of nine of the national parks to seek their help in warning members of the public who visit those areas of the dangers which may exist in those parts of the parks used as military training areas.
On the issue of military use of national parks more generally, I can say absolutely that the military training areas which are found in national parks provide essential facilities for military training which could not be dispensed with and could not be found elsewhere. Military 345 use of national parks accounts for only about 3 per cent. of their 3 million acres, and live firing amounts to about 2 per cent. of the total acreage.
We carry out live firing and dry training in six national parks: Dartmoor, Northumberland, the Pembrokeshire coast, the Peak District, Snowdonia and the Yorkshire dales. Like the public, the military use national parks for adventure training, orienteering and hill walking.
My hon. Friend asked me to address the question of live firing. It is important that he realises that we will continue to introduce simulation wherever possible. My hon. Friend may not be aware that a new tactical engagement simulation system has been an amazing success. It is extremely expensive, but a number of full sets of equipment have been ordered. The Chief of the General Staff and I watched it being used on Salisbury plain last week. It is truly remarkable, and I believe that my hon. Friend should be encouraged about its use in the future. However, I must emphasise that nothing can supplement or replace live firing.
Having said that, my hon. Friend will be interested to learn that national park designations—with all the constraints they bring for current and future military use—apply to some 30 per cent. of the Army's training estate, which, as he said, is extremely busy. Taking full note of its responsibilities as far as the use of national parks is concerned, my Department has issued a declaration of commitment to the national parks.
It is my firm intention that we will abide by that declaration and formally consult the various national park authorities and the Countryside Commission over any proposal to extend or significantly intensify military activity within a national park. In addition, my Department has signed similar understandings with English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage, and we will shortly be doing so with the Countryside Council for Wales. We will also continue with the policy of releasing any land that becomes surplus to defence requirements.
My hon. Friend knows that conservation plays a very important part in our strategy for use and management of the land which we occupy within the national parks. My officials maintain regular close liaison with the national park authorities through the conservation groups that are established on military training areas.
§ Mr. David Jamieson (Plymouth, Devonport)Will the Minister give way?
§ Mr. SoamesNo.
I assure my hon. Friend that we fully understand his strong feelings about the matter, but our national parks are not the same as national parks abroad. National parks abroad are designated solely for the purpose of recreation. Our national parks have always been—it is one of their glories—living, working landscapes.
My hon. Friend knows Dartmoor very well, and I know the Yorkshire dales particularly well. The dales simply would not exist in their present form unless they had been farmed. It is a living, working landscape, and the military are very much a part of it. I know that my hon. Friend would want no less.
I take on board my hon. Friend's points, but I am afraid that I do not agree with his argument as to why we should end live firing. I believe that he is right to point out that there is a danger on Dartmoor of people picking up items which they should be very wary of handling. We will continue to do everything we can to draw the public's attention to those matters.
It is my wish that the public should have as much access as possible in order to enjoy the defence estate. While I believe that there is a great deal for them to enjoy, it is also my firm wish that they be safe—I know that that is my hon. Friend's primary concern also. Unfortunately, the only way that my Department can guarantee that absolutely is by prohibiting access, which is a move in the opposite direction to the path that we are determined to follow.
In light of what I have said, I hope that my hon. Friend will agree that the action we are taking to encourage safe public access and to educate the public about military training is the best way forward. While I regret the recent incident very much, I hope that people will continue to come and enjoy all that the defence estate has to offer. I warmly congratulate my hon. Friend on introducing an extremely important debate at—bearing in mind the background against which it was raised—a very apposite moment.
I acknowledge my hon. Friend's concern for the safety of all who use the parks. I also beg the general public to pay the closest attention to the extensive safety markings and signs that exist in all the national parks where live firing takes place to prevent and enhance their own safety. I thank my hon. Friend for raising the matter, and I hope that he will be reassured by what I said.
§ Madam Deputy SpeakerOrder. We now move to the next topic.