HC Deb 14 June 1968 vol 766 c69W
Sir D. Renton

asked the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food how many acres of farm land were taken out of production and were used for development of all kinds during the last 12 months for which figures are available and in each of the previous four years.

Mr. John Mackie

The estimated losses of agricultural land in England and Wales for development of all kinds, including afforestation, were as follows:

1962–63 38,659 acres
1963–64 53,909 acres
1964–65 49,218 acres
1965–66 65,726 acres
1966–67 38,034 acres

Because of the difficulty of determining in many cases the precise point in time at which land has gone out of agricultural use, the allocation of figures to individual years is necessarily approximate.