§ Andrew BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list(a) land acquired by his Department for military training since 1997 and (b) land released by his Department since 1997. [112359]
§ Mr. CaplinOur policy is to acquire additional land only where this allows either more effective use of the estate or retention of essential training land which was formerly used under lease arrangements.
The only major acquisition of land for military training since 1997 was that at Cape Wrath, Scotland in 1998, totalling 2,684 hectares. The following table provides detail of smaller acquisitions in the period:
Smaller acquisitions of land since 1997 Land acquired Hectares acquired East Riggs, Dumfries and Galloway 0.03 Belmont Street, Aberdeen 1— Leek Training Area 2.2 Llanfair P G—Anglesey 0.03 Leek Camp, staffs 3.1 Nr Llangefni, Angelsey 0.5 Saxa vord, Unst, Shetland 0.032 Cinque Ports 38.9 Cinque Port 24.3 Salisbury Plain 32.4 Sennybridge 44.5 DM Kineton, Warwickshire 1.9 Cinque Ports 7.3 1 Not available. Disposal figures are not available for 1997, but since 1998 the Department has disposed of some 7,000 hectares of land. Details of this breakdown could be provided only at disproportionate cost.