HC Deb 13 June 1978 vol 951 cc463-4W
Mr. Faulds

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action the Nature Conservancy Council intends to take in the light of the consultation paper on the Somerset Wetlands and the comments received on it.

Mr. Denis Howell

Responses to the Somerset Wetlands consultation papers indicate strongest support for the development of a land use strategy. The Nature Conservancy Council is now considering how the project may be promoted in the future, but as an interim measure the development of aquatic nature reserves on worked-out peat extraction sites is being given immediate attention in consultation with local authorities.

The NCC is also exploring with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the scope for integrating, as far as possible, the common interests in the agriculture and nature conservation of the Somerset levels.