§ Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made with the policy of selling agricultural land under the control of the Agricultural Land Commission.
Mr. AmoryThe total area of agricultural land under the control of the Commission at 31st March, 1955, was about 228,000 acres. This has all been reviewed, and it is clear that much of this land must be retained in Government ownership either temporarily or permanently—in many instances because it was acquired for forestry purposes and will eventually be planted. Between 60,000 and 70,000 acres are, or shortly will be, available for sale and the necessary arrangements are in hand. Sales already completed or agreed total some 10,000 acres valued at over £400,000.