§ Mr. Walkdenasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is prepared to arrange loans at low rates of interest to local authorities to aid them in acquiring suitable land to let for use as gardens during the present emergency and to assist allotment holders by the provision of seeds, implements and garden huts on easy terms?
§ Sir W. WomersleyMy right hon. Friend has every hope that the powers conferred upon local authorities in urban areas by the Cultivation of Lands (Allotments) Order, made under the Defence Regulations, to take possession of land and the powers of hiring under the Allotments Acts will prove ample to enable the demand for land for cultivation as allotments to be met. The Allotments Acts already empower allotment authorities to provide seeds, plants, fertilisers or implements at cost price to allotment holders in cases where there are no adequate facilities for purchasing from a society on a co-operative basis.