§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what guidelines currently apply for the822W protection of public access to woodlands being sold by the Forestry Commission; when those guidelines were circulated to Forestry Commission staff; when they became operational; and if he will publish them. [6090]
§ Mr. KynochThe current access guidelines for continued public access to Forestry Commission woodlands after sale were introduced in October 1991, after being circulated to Forestry Commission staff. A copy is available in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what criteria have been adopted in assessing whether a woodland is important for public access when it is being considered for disposal by the Forestry Commission; and how the decision on whether it is important is made; [6089]
(2) what is the minimum number of walkers in a woodland identified for disposal by the Forestry Commission required for that woodland to be classified as important for public access; [6091]
(3) how many Forestry Commission woods have been classified as (a) important for public access and (b) unimportant for public access; arid if he will list all such woods classified as either, indicating the location of each and the reasons they were deemed to be (a) or (b) [6094]
§ Mr. KynochI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 28 November 1995,Official Report, column 590.
§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number and total area of Forestry Commission woods sold in(a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales since access agreements were introduced in 1991 to protect public access, indicating for each country the number and area with and without access agreements. [6093]
§ Mr. KynochThe information is as follows:
Forestry Commission Woods sold between 1 October 1991 and 30 September 1995 With access agreement Number Area1 Without access agreement Number Area1 Total Number Area1 England 6 136 189 5,006 195 5,142 Scotland 4 325 216 24,110 220 24,435 Wales 18 382 211 4,146 229 4,528 1 Areas are given in hectares.