§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many acres on Dart-moor are currently under military use; and of these how many acres are in the national park.
§ Mr. Hayhoe35,725 acres are currently used by the military, of which 35,075 acres are in the national park.
§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the extension of military training on Dartmoor, and hold a public inquiry into the proposed plans to extend military training on Cramber tor.
§ Mr. HayhoeThere are no plans to extend military training on Dartmoor. In paragraph 305 of her report on the public inquiry on the continued use of Dartmoor for military training, Lady Sharp recommended that there should be a reduction in the use of National Trust land for training and that the resulting deficiency should be made good elsewhere in the national park. Our current proposal is that training should be transferred to an area round Cramber tor. If this proves satisfactory we should cease to use National Trust land completely. We have given formal notifica-836W tion of our proposal to the local planning authorities and we hope that they will find it acceptable in the light of Lady Sharp's recommendation. If they object, and it proves impossible to reach agreement on an alternative to the National Trust land, it would be for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment to decide whether a public inquiry is necessary.