§ Lord Lukeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total area of recreational land in the United Kingdom, and of school playing fields in particular, which has been lost in the last five years, and which is currently under threat.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Skelmersdale)This specific information is not available centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, my department's monitoring of land use change has revealed a net gain in outdoor recreational land of 1,025 hectares in England in 1985, the only year for which figures are available.
The Government are aware of the concerns expressed by sports and other bodies about loss of recreational land to development. Such losses need to be set against the substantial increase in new facilities in recent years to establish a clearer view of the position nationally, and the Sports Council is undertaking some work on this with the Central Council for Physical Recreation, at the request of my honourable friend the Minister for Sport.