§ 6.53 p.m.
VISCOUNT CRANBORNEBefore the House adjourns, I should like to ask the Government if they have any statement to make on training areas in this country.
THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (LORD PAKENHAM)My Lords, the Government have under close consideration the demands of the Service Departments for land for training and defence purposes. Particular matters under examination are the amount of land required, the extent to which training can be carried out abroad, the feasibility of utilizing the more remote and less populated parts of the country, particularly Scotland, and the effect of the proposals on agriculture, amenity and other interests. When this examination is completed a White Paper will be issued. Meanwhile, through inter-Departmental machinery, consideration has now been given to certain areas of particular importance—Harlech, Dartmoor, Braunton Burrows, Ashdown Forest, Purbeck, Castlemartin, and Martindale. Decisions have been reached as follows (references to acreages being approximate):
- (1) In the case of Harlech, the Government have reached the conclusion that the harm to the public interest, if it were retained, would be so grave that its use for peacetime training purposes must be abandoned.
- (2) The original proposals of the War Office and the Admiralty in respect of Dartmoor, involving about 75,000 acres in all, have been modified, with the result that the amount of land required has been reduced to 58,000 acres. It may be possible to reduce this even more by up to 11,000 acres by arrangements for joint use. Of the 58,000 acres,, the public would be excluded from 28,000, compared with 49,000 under the original proposals. Over 14,000 acres there would be not only prohibition of access to the public, but some restriction on grazing. A public local inquiry will be held into the proposals in their modified form before a decision on the retention of the area is reached.
- (3) As regards Braunton Burrows (including Northern Burrows) the area
991 has been reduced from 1,200 to 700 acres, the land to be surrendered including a rifle range. No agricultural land would be involved and Service use would not prevent public access to any part of the area, apart from eight acres at Instow, except for a total of twelve days in the year when firing takes place. Use of the area, save for a very small portion, would involve training rights only. The proposal, as modified, will be the subject of a public local inquiry before a decision on the retention of the area is taken. - (4) The area of land required in the Ashdown Forest has been reduced from 7,500 to 7,000 acres, and public access and the use of the land for grazing purposes would be the same as before the war. In this case, also, a public local inquiry will be held before a decision on the retention of the area is taken.
- (5) As regards the Purbeck area, comprising 6,940 acres, no reconciliation of military and civil interests has been found possible. The retention of the land for tank-training purposes would involve the loss of 1,500 acres of cultivatable land, 3,000 acres of rough grazing land, and exclusion of the public from 6,540 acres, including the coastline from Worbarrow Tout to the West of Kimmeridge Bay. A public local inquiry will be held before a decision on the retention of this area is taken.
- (6) The use of the Castlemartin area as a tank-training area was approved by the Government of the day in 1938, after full consideration of all the factors, and the land involved has, save for a very small portion, already been acquired by the War Office. The area is most suitable as a tank-training range, and considerable sums of money have been spent on the necessary installations. Moreover, as the result of discussions with the interests concerned, modifications of the original proposals have been made which would greatly reduce the detriment to civilian interests. Out of a total of 5,960 acres, about 5,000 are suitable for cultivation and grazing. Of this amount 1,500 would be likely to remain permanently available for agricultural use, while some 2,500 would still be usable for these
992 purposes until such time as the tank range came into full use. Limited access to the coastline by the public would also be possible. About three and a half miles of the coastline would be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, and on any other day when firing was not in progress, and special arrangements would be made for visits by scientific bodies to the remaining three miles of coastline which would otherwise have to remain closed on account of the danger of unexploded shells. But though much has been done to safeguard civilian interests, the Government have decided that a public local inquiry should be held before a decision is taken. - (7) A decision regarding the Martindale field firing range awaits the result of a search for an alternative area in which local interests are co-operating. This search has been delayed by the weather, but is likely to be successful.
§ VISCOUNT SIMONMay I ask the noble Lord about the Castlemartin area? It is, of course, in Pembrokeshire. I am not clear as to whether the area which the authorities want to retain or make use of is limited to what is called the Castlemartin area. I was under the impression that there were areas of coastline—some of the most beautiful coastline in this island—which were also involved. Or are they included in what is technically called the Castlemartin area? For instance, Stackpole, of which the noble Lord might have heard.
LORD PAKENHAMThe noble and learned Viscount is evidently much better acquainted with the area at first hand than I am, but I will certainly take the trouble to make sure that he has a full answer to his question.