§ Mr. Chapmanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of land lost to agriculture annually; and how this figure compares with one year, five years and 10 years previously.
§ Mrs. FennerThe average annual loss of agricultural land to development or other uses, excluding woodlands, in England for the five-year period ending June 1981, the latest year for which statistics are available, is estimated to be 16,300 hectares (40,200 acres). The corresponding figure for the five-year period to June 1971 is 18,600 hectares (46,000 acres) although this is not directly comparable with later figures because of subsequent changes in the method of calculation. Because of this change it is not possible to quote a figure for the period ending June 1976.