§ Mr. Jim Lesterasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the acreage of land owned by the National Coal Board.
§ Mr. Eadie:At 1st April 1974 the National Coal Board held approximately 273,000 acres, freehold and leasehold, for all purposes.
§ Mr. Jim Lesterasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the total acreage of land held by the National Coal Board for opencast mining in each year from 1957 to 1974.
§ Mr. Eadie :Acreage at the end of each year was as follows:
1957 61,717 1958 64,027 1959 58,592 1960 45,148 1961 43,438 1962 39,878 1963 36,536 1964 32,614 1965 29,141 1966 27,414 1967 26,260 1968 25,982 1969 27,392 1970 30,245 1971 33,440 1972 34,482 1973 35,658 1974 36,708