§ Dr. WoodcockTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of the Forestry Commission land announced for disposal on 16 June 1989 has so far been disposed of; on how much of this land has public access been protected; and if he will consider retrospective action to reinstate public access to land sold where access was not protected at the time of the sale.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonJust over 7,000 hectares of forest land were sold by the Forestry Commission in the period between April 1989 and June 1990; in addition, some 2,900 hectares of other land were sold in that period. These sales were not subject to special conditions relating to public access and retrospective action to impose such conditions would not be practical or appropriate.
The Government are concerned, however, that the general public should continue to enjoy access to those 685W forests to be disposed of by the Forestry Commission in a way which is compatible with their management for forestry and other purposes. We are giving careful consideration to ways of achieving this objective. In the meantime, the commission is deferring the sale of woodlands that are particularly sensitive from the point of view of public access, except in those cases where the sale is to an environmental body under the sponsorship arrangements.