HC Deb 15 June 1995 vol 261 cc661-2W
Mr. Dafis

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made in(a) hectares and (b) acres of the amount of rural land lost to agriculture or conservation since 1965 at five-yearly intervals, indicating this as a percentage of (i) the area of land used for agriculture and (ii) the total land surface of Wales. [28216]

Mr. Gwilym Jones

No estimates of the amount of rural land lost to agriculture or conservation are available centrally. Estimates of the change in the total amount of land used for agriculture are shown in the following table:

Net change in agricultural land
Net change in Net change as a percentage of
(a) hectares (b) acres (i) land used for agriculture (ii) the total area of Wales
1965–70 -35,425 -87,534 -2.1 -1.7
1970–75 -11,100 -27,430 -0.7 -0.5
1975–80 17,130 42,329 1.0 0.8
1980–85 1,323 3,269 0.1 0.1
1985–90 -658 -1,626 -0.0 -0.0
1990–941 -4,206 -10,393 -0.2 -0.2
1 Figures for 1995 are not yet available.