HC Deb 20 June 1967 vol 748 c249W
Mr. Elystan Morgan

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a White Paper indicating the limited range of cases in which in practice the use of powers of compulsory purchase have been or should be contemplated by a Rural Development Board.

Mr. Peart

No. The very limited nature of these powers was repeatedly emphasised during the passage of the Agriculture Act, 1967. They will be available, subject to the approval of the appropriate Ministers, only where a board is promoting a co-ordinated scheme of amalgamations and boundary adjustments in which the owners and occupiers of all but a small acreage are willing to cooperate on a voluntary basis.