COUNCIL LAND SALES AND NATIONAL ASSETS

That this House notes the increasing pressure from central Government which is forcing local authorities to consider selling off land; in particular notes that, at the same time as special education in the county of Devon is undergoing a major review, land at Steps Cross Special School, which forms part of one of the nation's national assets, the estate of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, has been put up for sale; therefore questions whether this is the correct time to be selling land given the poor market conditions that presently exist; considers that, until the special needs review is completed, it would be absurd to sell off land at the Steps Cross site when the whole area might eventually become available for alternative use; and concludes that this whole issue is a vivid illustration of the failure of Tory environmental policy to consider long-term national and local interests when national bodies such as English Heritage and the Science Museum and the local Liberal Democrat controlled Torbay Borough Council say that this land should be preserved.