HL Deb 09 March 1976 vol 368 cc1267-8WA
The Earl of KIMBERLEY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (i) what is the total acreage of motorway embankments and cuttings in the United Kingdom; and
    2. 1268
  2. (ii) how much of this acreage is at present used for forestry.

The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, DEPARTMENT of the ENVIRONMENT (Baroness Birk)

Noprecise figures are available but on current estimates about 27,500 acres of land in the United Kingdom are occupied by motorways. About 18,000 acres are used for carriageways and hard shoulders, with the remaining 9,500 acres going on verges, embankments and cuttings. No motorway land is used for commercial forestry, though we do plant trees and shrubs for landscape purposes.

House adjourned at sixteen minutes before six o'clock.