§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether forestry ploughing operations have been carried out by Tilhill Forestry Limited on land at Shielsknowe, Leithope Forest near Cartertar, Border Region, after refusal of grant aid by the Forestry Commission, and without the approval of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland.
§ Mr. John MacKayYes. Almost the whole of the area for which grant aid was refused has now been ploughed and planting is expected to be completed soon.
As I said in my reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Shettleston (Mr. Marshall) on 8 May at column 442 about the planting operations at Crichness, the Forestry Commission takes a serious view, which my right hon. Friend shares, of planting proceeding before a decision on grant aid has been taken. He is even more concerned over the action taken by the applicant in the Shielsknowe case as the Forestry Commission had in fact refused the grant application in respect of the greater part of the area after consultations with other authorities, including the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. This is only the second significant case of this nature since the present consultation procedures were introduced in 1974. My right hon. Friend will nevertheless be watching the situation very carefully.