§ 13. Sir W. Wakefieldasked the Postmaster-General, in view of the fact that the road in Nottingham Place, Nottingham Street, W.1, and adjacent streets. 1103 was dug up by the London Electricity Board in April and May, 1954, from July to September, 1954, from December, 1954, to April, 1955, and from September, 1957, until January, 1958, and by the North Thames Gas Board in August, 1958, and is still up, what steps he took to coordinate the time for digging up the road in these streets with the London Electricity Board and the North Thames Gas Board, before the Post Office dug it up in January to May, 1956, in April to August, 1956, in July to September, 1956, in March to June, 1956, and from October, 1956, to March, 1957, to avoid the inconvenience to residents, traffic congestion, and unnecessary expenditure on the digging up and reinstatement of the road surfaces.
§ The Postmaster-General (Mr. Ernest Marples)Wherever possible the Post Office co-operates with other authorities to carry out its road works with the minimum of inconvenience to the public, and at minimum cost. As the Question shows, the operations in the neighbourhood of Nottingham Place were exceptionally complex. The existing plant was very congested and it would not have been possible to undertake all the works simultaneously without entirely closing the streets. I am extremely sorry that my hon. Friend's constituents should have been put to so much discomfort.
§ Sir W. WakefieldWill the Postmaster- General, with his tidy and efficient mind, devote some attention to co-ordinating the work of his Department and these other Departments with the same initiative he has shown in his Department? I feel sure that if that were done we should not see this really shocking state of affairs as indicated in my Question.
§ Mr. MarplesThe Post Office served notice on all the local authorities and public utilities before the work was carried out. We certainly do our best to cooperate, but the ownership of streets vests in the highway authority and only such an authority can do this sort of work. We cannot do it in the Post Office, but I shall certainly do my best to help.