HC Deb 27 January 1988 vol 126 cc235-6W
Mr. Goodlad

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will widen the remit of the Countryside Commission in disbursing grant for replanting trees following the October 1987 hurricane to include the clearance of fallen trees, remedial survey to damaged standing trees, assistance with timber marketing and surveys of overall damage to trees; and if he will make a statement;

(2) what representations he has received about the desirability of dedicating a substantial proportion of the grant, to be administered by the Countryside Commission, towards the cost of a tree-planting programme following the October 1987 hurricane, to remedial tree surgery, a damage survey, public information and future planting; and if he will make a statement;

(3) what representations he has received about the necessity for grants towards the cost of clearance and disposal of fallen timber prior to tree planting following the October 1987 hurricane; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Moynihan

We are carefully considering the need for a programme of assistance in the long term, and we shall take into account various representations which have been received about the scope and nature of the assistance required.

Mr. Goodlad

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate his Department made of the cost per acre of clearing and disposing of fallen timber prior to allocating a grant of £2.7 million to be administered by the Countryside Commission towards the cost of a tree-planting programme following the October 1987 hurricane.

Mr. Moynihan

The purpose in making assistance immediately available through the Countryside Commission for tree planting was to assist in replacing the maximum practicable number of trees during the current planting season. The general principle is that clearance is the responsibility of the individual owner and the costs of clearing and disposing of fallen timber were not therefore directly relevant.

Mr. Goodlad

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the Countryside Commission has provided for tree planting in each county since the October 1987 hurricane; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Moynihan

The Countryside Commission has allocated the following sums for tree planting to the counties affected by the storm of 16 October:

County £000
Bedfordshire 3
Berkshire 93
Buckinghamshire 20
Cambridgeshire 21
Dorset 9
East Sussex 293
Essex 151
Hampshire 204

County £000
Hertfordshire 33
Isle of Wight 55
Kent 350
Norfolk 34
Oxfordshire 6
Suffolk 139
Surrey 56
West Sussex 141
Greater London 800

These figures do not include amounts previously committed under the commission's existing schemes of aid for tree planting. Nor do they include allocations to be made from the further £250,000 for 1987–88 which the Government announced on 21 January, or amounts made available to certain trusts and other bodies which own land in more than one county.