§ Sir N. MOOREasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether steps can be taken to supervise the indiscriminate plucking of flowers, more especially bluebells, at this time of year in Richmond Park; and whether the large area of the park between Sheen Gate and Sheen Common Gate, of poor agricultural soil, enclosed for the production of foodstuffs during the War, can now be thrown open to the public?
§ Captain HACKING (for the FIRST COMMISSIONER of WORKS)The First Commissioner regrets that it is not possible to take effective steps to prevent the plucking of flowers over such a large area as that of Richmond Park. The enclosed area to which my hon. Friend refers produces good crops of oats used for feeding the horses working in the Park. There is no demand for more space in this section of the Park, and, in view of the economy effected, no good reason is seen for altering the existing arrangement.