§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether it was a condition of the grant application recently discussed between the Nature Conservancy Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to extend the existing Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve on the Nene Washes, near Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, by the purchase of 16.5 acres of adjoining land within the existence site of special scientific interest, that no grant would be given unless the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds allowed shooting over it.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyI understand that the NCC considered the application by RSPB for the purchase of land to extend their existing Nene Washes reserve strictly in the light of the policy agreed with my right hon. Friend that traditional country rights and uses should not be interfered with wherever they are not in direct conflict with conservation interests. Since there was no evidence that the continuation of sporting rights over the site was incompatible with conservation interests the NCC felt unable to offer grant assistance to RSPB if the extinguishment of those rights formed an integral part of the purchase objectives.