§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the area of agricultural land which will be required for road building and road improvements in the United Kingdom during the next 10 years, in order to meet his Department's lowest estimate of the increase in car ownership and for other reasons, the annual value of the production of this land at 1976 prices and the additional cost to the balance of payments of importing food, which would otherwise have been produced on it.
§ Mr. William RodgersNo. Information is lacking upon which such estimates could be based.
§ Mr. Formanasked the Secretary of State for Transport how much land zoned for agricultural purposes has been used in the construction of the British motorway network over the last 12 and six years, respectively.
§ Mr. HoramInformation is not readily available about the proportion of road land formerly in agricultural use. Approximately 18,000 and 12,500 acres of rural land of all kinds have been used452W for motorway building in England in the periods mentioned.