HC Deb 25 May 1995 vol 260 cc686-8W
Dr. Strang

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many hectares of land(a) are eligible for entry into each environmentally sensitive area in England and (b) have been entered into each tier of each environmentally sensitive areas in England. [25793]

Mr. Waldegrave

The information for environmentally sensitive areas in England is as follows:

Eligible area in hectares Area currently under agreement in hectares
Stage I ESAs (launched in 1987)
Broads 24,000 Tier 1–8,596
Tier 2–5,906
Tier 3–354
Tier 4–256
Total 15,112
Pennine Dales 39,100 Tier 1–24,280
Tier 2–1,198
Total 25,478
Somerset Levels and Moors 25,900 Tier 1–10,630
Tier 2–2,244
Tier 3–881
Total 13,755
South Downs 51,700 Tier 1–4,810
Tier 2–408
Tier 3–5,964
Total 11,182
West Penwith 6,900 Tier 1–6,125

Eligible area in hectares Area currently under agreement in hectares
Stage II ESAs (launched in 1988)
Breckland 51,600 Tier 1–2,595
Tier 2–99
Tier 3–2,431
Tier 4–281
Total 5,406
Clun 18,900 Tier 1–12,125
Tier 2–1,142
Tier 3–178
Total 13,445
North Peak 50,500 Tier 1–22,980
Tier 2–11,244
Total 34,224
Suffolk River Valleys 32,600 Tier 1–6,910
Tier 2–1,607
Tier 3–324
Tier 4–98
Total 8,939
Test Valley 3,300 Tier 1–934
Tier 2–116
Total 1,050
Stage III ESAs (launched in 1993)
Avon Valley 3,800 Tier 1–572
Tier 2–42
Total 614
Exmoor 67,700 Tier 1–38,529
Tier 2–931
Total 39,460
Lake District 219,300 Tier 1–87,280
Tier 2–4,066
Total 91,346
North Kent Marshes 11,600 Tier 1–3,030
Tier 2–599
Total 3,629
South Wessex Downs 38,300 Tier 1–17,583
Tier 2–1,218
Total 18,801
South West Peak 27,000 Tier 1–11,279
Tier 2–3,043
Total 14,322
Stage IV ESAs (launched in 1994)
Blackdown Hills 32,200 Tier 1–3,162
Tier 2–49
Total 3,211
Cotswold Hills 66,100 Tier 1–20,128
Tier 2–939
Total 21,067

Eligible area in hectares Area currently under agreement in hectares
Dartmoor 89,000 Tier 1–6,729
Tier 2–324
Total 7,053
Essex Coast 23,000 Tier 1–1,925
Tier 2–115
Tier 3–223
Total 2,263
Shropshire Hills 34,900 Tier 1–7,035
Tier 2–32
Total 7,067
Upper Thames Tributaries 18,000 Tier 1–2,264
Tier 2–312
Tier 3–262
Total 2,838

Dr. Strang

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farms(a) are eligible to have land entered into each environmentally sensitive area in England and (b) have had land entered into each environmentally sensitive area in England.

Mr. Waldegrave

Records are not kept of the number of farms in each designated environmentally sensitive area in England which are eligible to enter the scheme.

The number of agreements in each ESA in England is as follows:

Number
Stage I ESAs (launched in 1987)
Broads 740
Pennine Dales 716
Somerset Levels and Moors 888
South Downs 213
West Penwith 187
Stage II ESAs (launched in 1988)
Breckland 113
Clun 195
North Peak 76
Suffolk River Valleys 396
Test Valley 32
Stage III ESAs (launched in 1993)
Avon Valley 32
Exmoor 390
Lake District 812
North Kent Marshes 52
South Wessex Downs 130
South West Peak 320
Stage IV ESAs (launched in 1994)
Blackdown Hills 126
Cotswold Hills 276
Dartmoor 156
Essex Coast 62
Shropshire Hills 123
Upper Thames Tributaries 106