§ 35. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the fact that there is now abundant evidence that the Birmingham Motorway will not serve its full purpose without the Worcester Northern Link Road, he will now give a definite notification as to when the necessary order will be made, together with a timetable indicating when construction will commence and be completed.
§ Mr. HayAn Order establishing the line of this road will be made within a week or two. I hope that construction will start in 1963 and be completed in two years.
§ Mr. NabarroDoes not that reply mean that the completion of the Worcester Northern Link Road will not be effective until about 1965—more than four years ahead—whereas the Birmingham-South Wales motorway will be completed within a year? As the Worcester Northern Link Road is an essential ingredient in the flow of traffic from Birmingham to South Wales, cannot this Northern Link Road be greatly expedited?
§ Mr. HayIt cannot, for the reasons which I gave in answer to the hon. Member for Leicester, North-West (Sir B. Janner) in connection with the M.1 extension. We must work within the confines 1463 of the statutory processes laid on us by Parliament. There is no way of short-circuiting these without running the risk of causing great damage to the interests of individuals.
§ Mr. Denis HowellThe Minister has given that reply on two or three occasions. Is he aware that many of us are as concerned about this as is the hon. Member for Kidderminster (Mr. Nabarro)? Will the Minister consider looking at the statutory provisions to see whether they ought to be brought up to date?
§ Mr. HayThe statutory provisions have recently been examined by my right hon. Friend's Department. We have been obliged to come to the conclusion that unless we are prepared to ride roughshod over the interests of individuals there is virtually no way in which these processes can be curtailed.
§ Mr. SpeakerMr. Rankin, to ask Question No. 36.
§ Mr. SteeleDoes the Minister not realise that this means that we should start earlier?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am having to be tyrannous because our progress with Questions has been so bad of late.