§ Clause 8, page 9, line 24, after ("council" insert ("or parish council").
1067§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.— (The Duke of Atholl.)
THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCHThis Amendment extends the powers of entry on unoccupied land to a parish council. I think it is obvious that in very many cases the parish council is not a very suitable body to deal with this matter. I believe there are certain reasons why they should not, and I hope the noble Duke will be able to reassure me on the point.
§ LORD LAMINGTONI will not elaborate the argument any further, but I hope the noble Duke will press the point.
The Duke of ATHOLLI think it really comes to this, that the council are given power under this Bill to deal with unoccupied land, and unoccupied land technically in Scotland is land which does not appear on the valuation roll. Personally, I do not know much of such land—at least, I have not discovered it—but there are some parish councils which are practically in the same position as burgh councils, and this is in order to give the parish councils, where the conditions are the same, the same powers as burgh councils with regard to unoccupied land. I cannot imagine the power being required, but it might be.