§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the approximate total area of land on which farmers permit military training to take place; what is the number and location of such sites; and what the impact on training arrangements would be if such permission were to be withdrawn. [HL4427]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)I have assumed that the noble Lord is referring to all landowners rather than farmers specifically in his question. Information on the approximate total area of land on which landowners permit military training to take place and the total number of sites involved is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. I can, however, provide estimates of the approximate number of landowners and general location of sites where military training is permitted to take place in the table below. It should be noted that arrangements for military training are covered by a variety of means ranging from formal leases to periodic ad hoc agreements with landowners and are liable to change on an annual basis.
The impact of the loss of opportunities for training on private land is being considered. We would seek to mitigate any major potential adverse effects by relocating a significant amount of this training to MoD-owned land. However, it is too early to assess the full effects of withdrawal of landowners' permissions to the MoD as a whole.
Location of sites Approximate Number of Landowners Scotland 6,000 Northern England (Northumberland, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Humberside, Lancashire, Cheshire) 2,000 East England (Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Derbyshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk) 100 South-east (Kent, Berkshire, Oxon, Hampshire, Oxford, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, East Wiltshire, Isle of Wight, Milton Keynes, Dorset, Somerset) 100 Wales 1,500 South-west England (Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Avon, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall) 220 Northern Ireland 6 Total 9,926