HC Deb 18 March 2002 vol 382 c114W
Mr. Laurence Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of the UK's waterways are owned by the landlords who own the surrounding land. [40705]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 5 March 2002]: This information is not held by the Department. We do not keep records of land ownership alongside waterways, and the information is not readily available—some information might be held by navigation authorities but to obtain a complete picture it would be necessary to carry out land searches for up to 5,000 km of waterway.