§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now able to make a statement about the future of the land of high nature conservation interest in the Ribble estuary which is threatened by reclamation.
§ Mr. Denis HowellI am delighted to inform the House that the Nature Conservancy Council has advised me that it has signed a contract for the voluntary purchase of some 5,500 acres of the Ribble estuary on behalf of the nation at a cost of £1.725 million.
The Government are making the necessary funds available to the NCC in order that this transaction can be completed during the current financial year.
The Ribble estuary is among the most important bird sanctuaries in Europe—and indeed in the world.
The NCC has advised the Government that it was vital in terms of the nation's ecological values to prevent the development of the estuary, both because of its own importance and also because of the repercussive effects upon other estuaries which would follow if the Ribble was lost as a bird sanctuary.
The purchase of the estuary will ensure its preservation for these purposes for all time and I am grateful to the NCC and the voluntary movements such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Wildfowl Trust. I would also like to add my thanks to the local authority for its advice and co-operation in ensuring such a satisfactory outcome.