§ Baroness Jegerasked Her Majesty's Government:
What changes they are proposing to make in Regent's Park; and what consideration is being given to public opinion.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Caithness)An avenue of hornbeams was removed and replanted elsewhere in the park earlier this year. No other major changes are proposed to the collections of trees. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment expects to negotiate a new lease with the Zoological Society of London which will enable them to occupy an additional 10 acres of Regent's Park, under the provisions of Section 7 of the Crown Estate Act 1961. The society's proposals for developing the additional land will be subject to planning control in the normal way and the local planning authority is required to take account of the views of interested parties.