§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement concerning the sum of £135,000 spent by his Department to enable the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Trust (Scotland) to acquire the Loch and Dornock salmon fishery on the Solway.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Loch and Dornock salmon fishery, which was immediately adjacent to the Army storage depot at Eastriggs, comprised three main elements: the netting rights, working and living accommodation on the shore and associated rights of access through the depot, 24 hours per day. Because of the close proximity of fishery personnel, it was necessary, for safety reasons, to place a ceiling on the explosive material stored and this was well 737W below the capacity of the depot. In order to allow the exercise of the rights of access, Ministry of Defence staff had to be available at all times specifically to provide escorts through this sensitive depot area. The effect was to inhibit the fully effective operation of the depot and incur significant extra costs. The opportunity to change this situation arose when the fishery was offered for sale and it became apparent that the Atlantic salmon conservation trust was interested in acquiring the netting rights alone. Following negotiation, it was agreed that, once ASCT had acquired the whole interest in the fishery, the Ministry of Defence would purchase the accommodation and associated rights of access. In this way the Ministry of Defence achieved the required improvements in cost-effectiveness without the need to purchase netting rights.