Mr. TEMPLE MORRISasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will state the average acreage of land which in any normal year at the present time is taken from the cultivated land for the purpose of urbanisation?
§ Mr. ELLIOTThe agricultural returns collected by the Ministry show that in the last five years there has been an average net reduction in the total agricultural area in England and Wales of 61,600 acres per annum. The information collected does not, however, enable me to say precisely how much of the area lost to agriculture is utilised for urban development.