HC Deb 23 November 1955 vol 546 cc1448-9
7. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made in recent months in considering suitable sites for helicopter landing stations in London; and what points along the River Thames have been surveyed on behalf of his Department as possible helidromes.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

About twenty riverside sites have been surveyed, and though several of these could be developed as air stations, none can be regarded as altogether satisfactory. My Department is also studying in collaboration with British European Airways the Port of London Authority and the London County Council the possibility of using a floating platform in the Thames. Preliminary trials have been carried out with the assistance of the War Office and six sites for floating platforms in the Thames have been surveyed against the scheme proving workable.

Mr. Dodds

While thanking the Minister for that answer and hoping that his experiments will be successful, may I ask him if he can say whether the experiments from the South Bank site will continue after March even if we do not get any further sites from which to experiment? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a helicopter went over this morning and that the silencer seemed to be working very well compared with the previous noise?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

I have nothing to add to what I said last week on the question of flights from the South Bank, but I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his tribute to the effective silencing system on the helicopter.

Mr. Nicholson

Does my right hon. Friend accept the word "helidrome" into the English language, and would he accept a raft on the Thames as being a "helisplash"?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

My answer to my hon. Friend is neither, Sir, at any price.

Mr. Rankin

Can the Minister now say when he thinks that he will come to a decision with regard to the service from the South Bank to London Airport?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

I cannot say anything about that today.