§ 13. Mr. Holtasked the Minister of Transport when he decided to have fresh surveys made of alternative routes of the Motorway north from Lancaster to Penrith; and what previous surveys have been made at the request of his Department.
§ Mr. HayIt was decided early in 1959, to appoint consulting engineers to undertake the fresh surveys. Previous surveys which were carried out by the Department between 1945 and 1949, covered routes following the Lune Valley, the Scotch Road, the present A.6 trunk road, and the railway between Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh.
§ Mr. HoltAs the Ministry informed the people in the North over a year ago that it was intended to go ahead with the Lune Road and as fresh surveys are now being undertaken, does not the hon. Gentleman realise that it is very disconcerting to the public? They want to feel when these motorways are built that all relevant matters have been taken into consideration as regards the best possible routes before work starts on them.
§ Mr. HayYes. It is precisely because we want to take into account all the relevant matters relating to the best possible route that we are having a consultant engineer's survey in this case.