Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 21 April 1995 to Question 19333 on Chemical Weapons, what assessment his Department has made of whether Operation APPLE and Operation CORNELIUS recovered all munitions buried in Bramley Training Area.

In 2002 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) assessed that the Bramley Training Area no longer poses an active risk to safety, this followed munitions clearing operations in 1987 (Operation APPLE) and 1995 (Operation CORNELIUS). However, it is not possible to provide 100% assurance that the site is entirely clear of unexploded ordinance and therefore a formal digging ban remains in place in specified areas. This includes land within the current training area, which is still used regularly by the Army for dry-fire training, and parts of the estate sold by MOD in 1992, where MOD consent is required to build, dig or plant.