§ 2. Mr. Derek Pageasked the Minister of Land and Natural Resources what steps he is taking to expedite a decision regarding a feasibility study on the Wash barrage.
§ Mr. WilleyI hope to have the advice of the Water Resources Board on the consultant's report on the water resources of the Great Ouse Basin fairly early in the New Year. We shall then consider the next steps.
§ Mr. PageCan my right hon. Friend give any further indication of exactly when he will be in a position to make a decision? Will he expedite this matter, bearing in mind the terrific impact which any such scheme would have on the economy of the whole area?
§ Mr. WilleyI am sure that my hon. Friend will agree that we ought to wait first for the advice of the Water Resources Board.
§ 3. Mr. Derek Pageasked the Minister of Land and Natural Resources whether he will discuss with the East Anglian Regional Economic Planning Council the desirability of a feasibility study of the Wash barrage.
§ Mr. WilleyI would certainly consult the Council before putting a feasibility study in hand, but it would be premature to do so at this stage.
§ Mr. PageI am most grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reply. Will he bear in mind the tremendous impact that any such scheme would have on the economy of the whole of Norfolk, which badly needs extra industry? Will he also bear in mind that this body is the only one that is capable of taking into account all the economic circumstances?
§ Mr. WilleyOur primary concern is with water, but, of course, we have to take into account the other factors.
§ 4. Sir D. Rentonasked the Minister of Land and Natural Resources whether the preliminary report by consultants of the storage potentialities of the Wash has yet been received; and whether he will make a further statement about this scheme.
§ 13. Sir G. de Freitasasked the Minister of Land and Natural Resources what progress has been made in the studies of the possibility of damming the Wash to create a reservoir by holding back water from rivers such as the Witham, Welland, Nene and Ouse, in order to provide fresh water for use in the dry counties of the East Midlands and East Anglia.
§ Mr. WilleyMy right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government has received the report of the consulting engineers, Messrs. Binnie and Partners, on the water resources of the Great Ouse basin. The report recommends further study of a number of possible conservation schemes, including the use of the Wash as a reservoir. My right hon. Friend and I have asked the Water Resources Board to consider the report in the context of their studies of the South-East as a whole and to advise in due course what action should be taken on it.
§ Sir D. RentonIs not it clear from the report which the right hon. Gentleman mentioned that the sooner the Wash is impounded the more farmland will be saved from flooding and the greater the scope for water storage? Therefore, in consultation with the Minister of Housing and Local Government, will the right hon. Gentleman press on with this matter as hard as he possibly can?
§ Mr. WilleyI appreciate what the right hon. and learned Gentleman has said. This is not altogether clear. We have to consider the Wash in the context of the other proposals made and of proposals which might be made about a reservoir in the Wash, but first of all we should have the advice of the Water Resources Board.
§ Sir G. de FreitasCan my right hon. Friend say when a feasibility study is likely to be started, in view of the enormous importance of this matter not only to Norfolk and East Anglia but to the East Midlands?
§ Mr. WilleyWe are considering this as expeditiously as we can; but first we have to await the advice of the Water Resources Board, which I am sure will deal with the matter as quickly as it can.