HC Deb 27 June 1988 vol 136 c139W
Mr. Hayes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much land remains on the registers of unused and under-used publicly owned land; and how much land was added to and removed from the registers during 1987.

Mr. Trippier

At the end of May 1988, there were some 88,400 acres of land on the land registers. During 1987, some 7,700 acres were added to the registers, and some 15,500 acres were removed. On 18 May, following my answer to a question about regional assistance from my hon. Friend, the Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Hicks) at column931–2 I told the House that almost half the land added to the register during 1987 was directed by the Department to be sold. In fact, as the figures show, the land added to the registers during 1987 was equal to almost half of all the land that was removed during that year, which included land sold as a result of directions.