HL Deb 21 December 1972 vol 337 cc1266-7WA
THE EARL OF DUNDEE

asked Her Majesty's Government

To state:

  1. (1) The area in acres of plantations created by the Forestry Commission at the end of the Forest Year 1944–45;
  2. (2) The actual cost, excluding all interest charges, of establishing these plantations (a) up till 1945, and (b) since 1945;
  3. (3) The estimated net future receipts from the sale of timber from these plantations, based on present current prices, excluding interest charges, both from future thinnings and from final fellings, between 1972 and the estimated date by which all, or substantially all, of these plantations shall have been finally felled.

EARL FERRERS:

  1. 1. The area of plantations created by the Forestry Commission by the end of the Forest Year 1944–45 was 498,000 acres.
  2. 2. The actual net cost of establishing these plantations excluding interest charges and the cost of land and roads, was £9 million up to 1945; no adjustment has been made for changes in the value of money since the annual net costs making up this total were accounted for 1267 in the Commission's accounts. The corresponding actual net cost since 1945 was £27 million.
  3. 3. It is estimated that the net future receipts from the sale of timber from these plantations based on current prices, excluding interest charges, would be £117 million.