§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire dated 9 August on the subject of land registers.
§ Sir George YoungIn my reply of 12 September to my hon. Friend I undertook to let him know the decisions reached in respect of certain parcels of land where my right hon. Friend had given notice of his proposal to direct the disposal of the land. I am now able to do so.
146WOn 25 June 1985, notices were given under section 99 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 to the owners of 50 land register sites giving them notice of the Secretary of State's proposals to direct them to take steps to dispose of their land. The owners had 42 days to make representations as to why they should not be so directed or as to the proposed contents of the directions. The 42-day period ended on 6 August 1985. Representations were received from owners of all 50 sites.
After carefully considering the representations made to him, my right hon. Friend has today made directions under section 98 of the 1980 Act requiring the owners of 21 of the original 50 sites to take steps to dispose of their interest in the land. A list of the 21 sites, which amount to about 56.3 hectares of land, has been placed in the Library of the house.
In the case of a further 21 sites, totalling some 85 hectares, he has decided not to make directions at the moment because he is satisfied that the owners have either disposed of the site, brought it back into use or are about to do so, in many cases as a result of the section 99 notice. In the cases of the remaining eight sites, totalling some 15.7 hectares, he has decided not to direct the disposal of the land in accordance with the original proposed directions but is considering fresh directions. He has today given notice under section 99 of the 1980 Act of his revised proposed directions in respect of three of these totalling 12.5 hectares. These sites are at Wythenshawe road in Manchester, Newmarket road, Ashton-under-Lyne and Hawthorne road, Denton.
The present exercise has proved successful. Of the 157 hectares subject to the 50 section 99 notices, 54 per cent. has already been or is being sold or brought into use; 36 per cent. is now the subject of directions under section 98 of the act; and my right hon. Friend is today giving notice of his intention to direct disposal of almost all the remainder.
In those cases where my right hon. Friend has decided not to make a direction for the moment, my Department will monitor progress and take action as appropriate. We are determined to maintain the momentum we have built up in bringing surplus land back into use and will be considering similar action on other sites, shortly.