§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying training flights were made last year in Great Britain; how many of these flights were in Wales and how many were in Merioneth; and whether he will express the number of flights in Wales and in Merioneth as a proportion of the total number of flights in Great Britain.
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§ Mr. William RodgersDuring 1973 there were 160,090 low-level movements by military aircraft in Great Britain. Excluding transit flights approximately 11 per cent. of low-level movements took place over Wales. Specific figures for Merioneth are not available.
§ Mr. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of complaints lodged with the Ministry of Defence about low-flying aircraft in Great Britain during 1973; and how many of these were from Wales; and how many from Merioneth.
§ Mr. William RodgersFigures for the first half of 1973 in respect of Merioneth cannot now be determined without disproportionate effort, but for the 12-month period 1st July 1973 to 30th June 1974 complaints about low flying military aircraft lodged with the Ministry of Defence were as follows: Great Britain, 1,300, including 140 from Wales, of which eight originated from Merioneth.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will state the number of low-flying training flights conducted by the RAF during each year 1964 to 1973; and whether he will state the total flying time spent on these flights in each year.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe figures for 1964 and 1965 are not now available. The annual figures for low-level movements for the remainder of the period are as follows:
1966 76,253 1967 85,849 1968 93,694 1969 107,759 1970 122,094 1971 144,661 1972 144,893 1973 169,090 It would not be possible to calculate the, total flying time involved without disproportionate effort.