§ Mr. QuinnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has for airport studies in support of the development of the Government's airport policy. [76589]
§ Dr. ReidThe White Paper "A New Deal for Transport" (Cm 3950) announced the Government's intention to prepare a UK airports policy looking some 30 years ahead. The White Paper also announced a series of studies of the role of regional airports in the South West, the Midlands, and the North of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These studies are all now under way.
To complement these studies, the Government have decided to set in hand a study of airport issues in the South East of England and the East of England. This study will consider future policies for these airports within the framework of the Government's sustainable development principles. It will take full account of the potential for airports in the other parts of the country to attract a greater proportion of the demand from their local area than they do at present, in accordance with the policy set out in the White Paper (paragraph 3.196).
The study will examine a wide range of options, and, in accordance with the new approach to appraisal set out in the White Paper, will appraise their economic, environmental and social implications. The study will consider both terminal and runway capacity. Projects for which planning applications have already been made, or are expected to be made shortly, will not be within the scope of the study. The Secretary of State must reserve his position on such cases, and cannot prejudge their outcome; the study will therefore examine a range of scenarios based on those projects either going ahead or not going ahead.
In accordance with our integrated transport policy, the study will consider not only airport capacity, but also the implications of possible developments for the planning of airspace capacity and air traffic control and for surface access to the airports concerned. The study will take account of work which the Department has recently 361W commissioned from OPRAF to examine the scope for improving long distance rail links to the major South East airports and the rail connections between those airports.
This work will be carried out in an open way. In particular, the Government recognise the substantial economic, environmental and social implications of runway capacity issues, and their interaction with land-use planning. The Government will therefore discuss with interested parties, including the regional planning conferences and regional development agencies, the process for taking forward the study, including the criteria which should be applied in the assessment of options.
The Government expect that the studies will take around two years. There will then be public consultation on options arising from this work. The Government envisage that the results of the airport studies will be incorporated in a White Paper on UK airports policy, which will also reflect the Government's decisions in response to the Inspector's report on the Heathrow Terminal 5 Inquiry.