HC Deb 02 February 1955 vol 536 cc1084-5
48. Mr. K. Robinson

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will set up an expert committee to prepare a long-term plan for the relief of traffic congestion in the London area.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

No, Sir.

Mr. Robinson

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether any post-war plan of this kind exists, and does he not agree that, quite apart from the short-term improvements that could be made to traffic congestion in London, the only real way of tackling this problem is to have a radical long-term plan which is long overdue, and will he reconsider this matter?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

As long ago as 1951 my London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee produced a most helpful report on this subject. There is also the London County Council's Development Plan, and I hope in a few minutes to be saying something about certain schemes for London.

Mr. Robinson

But those are not radical, long-term plans; they are all unco-ordinated ad hoc schemes. Would the Minister not consider that the time has now come to reorganise the traffic routes in inner London and the approaches to London, and will he give this matter further consideration?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

I am inclined to think that plans are in adequate supply, and I propose to proceed from them to measures.

Mr. Langford-Holt

Is the Minister aware that many buildings are being rebuilt in the central London area on the same sites as those occupied by their predecessors 50 years ago, and does he not think it is high time that such plans were looked at and checked by his Ministry?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

That is a matter for the planning authority.