§ Mr. ADAMSONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the medical officer of health for the county of Fife has reported that a state of congestion exists with regard to housing accommodation at Rosyth, and that consequently some of the men employed there have to travel four and five miles to work; whether he is aware that the Dunfermline Town Council have decided to put the Housing and Town Planning Act into operation; and whether, in view of the fact that the Admiralty have about 600 acres of land lying to the north of the 1949W naval base, the Department can co-operate with the Dunfermline Town Council in their efforts to take advantage of the Act referred to by feuing or leasing such land on reasonable terms or in any other way?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAI have read the report in question. Reference is made in it to the fact that some workmen have to walk or cycle from three to four and a half miles to and from their lodgings and their work. To render further housing accommodation more easily accessible, the contractors have recently provided a service of trains between Rosyth, Inverkeithing, and Dunfermline. I am aware that the Dunfermline Town Council have under consideration the question of town planning their district, and we are co-operating with that body in order to facilitate their operations. These have not been so expeditious as might be desired, in consequence of the necessity of proceeding in the first instance with the scheme of main drainage. For this the Dunfermline local authority has obtained the necessary Parliamentary powers, and contracts for the first portions of the work are in progress, that for the first portion having been let in April last. The Admiralty have agreed to the inclusion of some 316 acres of their land in the town planning scheme, and on the 25th September last some preliminary information was furnished to the town council for guidance in its preparation. No definite arrangements have yet been made as to the terms of feuing or leasing the Admiralty land. As T stated in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract on 9th October, though we are under no contract obligation in the matter of housing, yet, now that the number of men employed has become considerable, I should not feel myself debarred—although the matter is one primarily for the Scotch Local Government Board and the local authorities—from making friendly representations as occasion seems to demand to the contractor in the interests of the men. In pursuance of that view, I am now in communication with the contractors.