§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much Forestry Commission land has been sold in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [R] [128043]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 28 June 2000]: The subject of the question relates to matters undertaken by Forest Enterprise. I have asked its Chief Executive, Dr. Bob McIntosh, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Bob McIntosh to Mr. Colin Breed, dated July 2000:
I have been asked to reply to your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food about the areas of Forestry Commission land sold in each of the last 10 years.The following table shows the areas, in hectares, of both forest land and other land sold by the Commission throughout Great Britain.
To year ending 31 March Forest Land Buildings and other land Total 1990 5,559 2,292 7,851 1991 4,770 2,658 7,428 1992 6,263 648 6,911 1993 6,827 3,762 10,589 1994 14,419 531 14,950 1995 10,014 794 10,808 1996 8,217 871 9,088 1997 9,605 1,237 10,842 1998 10,756 1,886 12,642 1999 4,261 1,493 5,754 The Government stopped the large scale sales of forest land by the Commission when they took up office in May 1997. The Commission may now only sell agricultural land, land associated with houses and other buildings, unplantable land and relatively small and isolated blocks of forest land which do not make a significant contribution to its objective and which are surplus to its requirements. The Commission may also sell areas for development where this is in the public interest. Areas of forest land which are important for public access will not be sold unless an access agreement is in place.
Most of the sales in 1997 and 1998 were agreed before May 1997.