§ 34. Mr. Chapmanasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will report the progress of his Department's tree-planting programmes for motorways and trunk roads.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyI am happy to announce in what is National Tree Week that during the current season the Department will plant about 1.3 million trees and shrubs alongside its roads. This will be the 16th successive year that the 1 million figure has been exceeded. Since 1963 a total of around 30 million trees and shrubs will have been planted alongside national roads in England and Wales.
Continuing maintenance is just as important as planting. We will be undertaking, in addition to new planting, a full programme of maintenance in relation to trees planted in earlier years.