§ 20. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will now say when construction of the Newbury east—west relief road will begin; and how long the work is likely to take.
§ Mr. WatkinsonI hope soon to authorise the preparation of the engineering details, after which acquisition of the necessary land can be put in hand, but until considerable progress has been made with this work it is difficult for me to say when the consructional work will start or how long it is likely to take to complete it.
§ Mr. HurdDoes my right hon. Friend realise that a very short length of relief road running east and west through Newbury would greatly facilitate the flow of traffic, which is becoming progressively heavier each weekend, and that it would be of great benefit to many thousands of travellers?
§ Mr. WatkinsonYes, Sir, I entirely agree, but I know that my hon. Friend will agree, equally, that I really must not trample over the rights of people whose land we have to buy to make these roads.