§ Mr. COWANasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether, in view of the value of commons as open spaces for the use and recreation of the public, and in view also of their utility to smallholders and commoners as grazing grounds, he can state what conditions the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries intend to impose to ensure the complete restoration after the War of any common land temporarily appropriated or enclosed for food production under the authority of the Order in Council published in the "London Gazette" on the 6th instant; whether it is proposed to take steps to secure that any land so enclosed or appropriated shall be used solely for the purposes of allotments; whether it is intended to authorise the enclosure of any part of a Metropolitan common or common regulated under the Commons Acts, 1876 and 1899; and whether, before agreeing to any enclosure of common land, the Board will satisfy itself that no other land in full private ownership lies derelict or unused in the district?
§ Mr. ACLANDThe right of the Board and of those claiming under them to retain possession of any common land taken under the Order in Council terminates at the end of the War, and it is only proposed that power should be obtained to continue in occupation for such further period as, may be necessary to secure any annual crops growing on the land when the War ends. Each application to take any portion of a common will be considered on its merits with due regard to the interests of the commoners and of the public, and the Board will not give their consent unless they are satisfied that no other unoccupied land is available for the purpose.