§ 25. Mr. Lathamasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he wil make a statement on his policy regarding the conservation of good agricultural land; and what recent initiatives he has taken in this regard.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerGovernment policy for the protection of agricultural land is to ensure that, as far as possible, land of a higher agricultural quality is not taken for development where land of a lower quality is available and that the amount of land taken is no greater than is reasonably required.
It is a continuing commitment and during the six months ending September 1980, the Ministry objected to 158 applications, involving 4,000 acres of agricultural land in England.