§ 16. Mr. Hastingsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present annual loss of agricultural and forestry land to all forms of development; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. StrangI assume that the hon. Member is referring to England and Wales. The estimate for the five-year period ending June 1975, the latest period for which agricultural census information is available, is that an average of about 36,900 acres a year were transferred out of agricultural to urban, industrial and recreational development including mineral workings. Figures for comparable losses of forestry land are not available.