HC Deb 21 June 1922 vol 155 cc1320-1W
Major W. MURRAY

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the Disposal Commission have asked the Scottish Episcopalian Church authorities for a sum of over £600 as payment for the purchase of two church sites, extending to about an acre each, upon the Government's property of Gretna and Eastriggs, and that the price paid by the Government in 1916 for the land upon which the churches, by arrangement, have been built was about £38 per acre; and, if so, whether he has sanctioned this proposed transaction and the prices asked?

Sir J. BAIRD

The price asked for these two church sites is approximately as stated. I would, however, point out to my hon. and gallant Friend that the comparison drawn in the question between the purchase price of the land and the price for sale leaves entirely out of account the heavy expenditure which has been incurred on the development of the property, particularly on the construction and reconstruction of roads fronting on the sites. I would add that the basis of valuation of the two sites in question is the same as that of all church sites at Gretna, and that this valuation has been accepted by a church of another denomination in the case of two other sites, the sales of which have been carried out.