§ Mr. Wylieasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he is aware that the proposal to develop the firing range at Castlelaw in the Pentland Hills has provoked opposition from numerous organisations in Scotland concerned with the 71W recreational use of the Pentland Hills, including the Scottish Council for Physical Recreation; and whether he consulted any of these organisations before taking this decision;
(2) in deciding to develop the firing range at Castlelaw in the Pentland Hills, to what extent he took into account the use made of these hills for recreational purposes by the citizens of Edinburgh and others; and what effect he anticipates these changes will have on such recreational use;
(3) whether he will reconsider his decision to develop the firing range at Castle-law in the Pentland Hills and examine the possibility of re-siting the range in an area not used for recreational purposes so extensively as the Pentland Hills;
(4) what plans he has to control the present dangerous area of the firing range at Castlelaw in the Pentland Hills if the range becomes electrically controlled in 1969.
§ Mr. ReynoldsThe firing range at Castlelaw is being developed by the introduction of electrical targets, and we are acquiring rights over two areas of land not owned by the Department. Consultation with the Scottish Development Department and with interested authorities is being carried out in the normal way. Existing safety precautions for the range will continue. Apart from the restrictions affecting the two extra areas covering some 64 acres, recreational use of Castle-law should not be reduced. The Ministry of Defence has no suitable alternative site near to Edinburgh.
Earl of Dalkeithasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what plans he has to extend the danger zone of the military firing ranges on the Pentland Hills; and whether he will make a statement;
(2) what consultations he has held with Edinburgh Corporation and the numerous bodies concerned with outdoor recreational activities in regard to his proposals to extend the danger zone of the military firing range in the Pentland Hills;
(3) what investigations he has carried out with a view to finding an alternative site for a military firing range that is neither in close proximity to the city of 72W Edinburgh nor of high amenity and recreational value, before he enters into any new scheme that involves an extension of the danger zone of the existing range in the Pentland Hills.
§ Mr. ReynoldsI would refer the hon. Gentleman to my Answer to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Mr. Wylie).