§ 6.32 a.m.
§ Sir Donald Kaberry (Leeds, North-West)At half-past six in the morning, when the first international jet aircraft beginning to scream and stream into London Airport, I do not propose to occupy the time of the House very long talking about the development of the Leeds—Bradford Airport and developments in relation to the question of a national airports plan. I should first like to acknowledge the presence of the Minister who is to reply, who has been here the whole evening. As this is a Leeds—Bradford matter I should like to acknowledge also the presence of the hon. Member for Bradford, East (Mr. Edward Lyons), who is here, but who, I think, has exhausted his right to speak on the Second Reading of this Bill.
I want to raise a matter which is of concern to my constituents in North-West Leeds, the whole population of the 605 West Riding of Yorkshire, and, I suppose, the Ministry, in so far as the necessity for a national airports plan arises in relation to the future use of this particular airport. To be very brief, the Leeds—Bradford Airport was formed some time before the 1939 war. It was a grass field. It was used primarily by private aircraft. During the war a concrete runway was put down, and larger aircraft used it. Since the war it has been developed as a municipal airport by the joint authorities, Leeds Corporation, Bradford Corporation, and, more recently, the West Riding County Council. It has been largely operated by private companies, which in recent years have had increasing business. The number of flights a year and the number of passengers carried have increased. But that has brought with it a lot of problems which concern the people who use the airport and certainly concern my constituents who live nearby.
I want to ask the Minister a series of questions which, I hope, he will be able to answer this morning; but if he cannot answer this morning, at any rate I hope that he will promise to let me know the answers later.
The airport is at the moment being thoroughly reconditioned, overhauled, and extended. There was a disastrous fire about two years ago. It destroyed the passenger terminal, and for the past two years passengers have had very bad accommodation in a hangar which has been adapted for quick use in and out; there is no comfort for anyone to stay there. That will cease at the end of this year, when a very good new passenger terminal should be available. That will be a step in the right direction. One of the runways has recently been lengthened, but this has brought its own problems because of the type of aircraft using the airport, and there are suggestions about lengthening the runway in order to take larger aircraft.
It is to this point that I should like to draw the Minister's attention, because my constituents are concerned about the type of aircraft which will use the airport in future. In the past we have had the modest private plane. The private companies have used DC3s, the Avro turboprop 748, and more recently one or two ancient Viscounts have appeared on the scene. They have used the existing run- 606 way, but the suggestion is to extend it, and this can be done only at what I would call considerable expense, for such is the nature of the airport that it is restricted in its size by roads on almost every side. It will mean crossing a main highway to put in an extended runway, which will cause many problems of architecture, design, and construction.
I should like an assurance from the Minister that the Ministry will take great care to control the noise of aircraft using the airport. I say this advisedly, because in making the approach run aircraft have to come quite low over high ground in the north-western part of my constituency, and there have been complaints about the increased noise.
That leads me to my second point, the whole question of the future development of the airport itself. Is it to be yet one more international airport? Is it to compete with Manchester Airport? Is it to compete with Prestwick or London Airport? Or is to be used merely as an airport for feeder services? If we can be told the future nature of the airport, the public can know what kind of aircraft they can expect to see using it.
If it is to be used for feeder services only, surely we shall have only the more modest type of aircraft using it, and not making too much noise, but if it is to be yet another international airport, we shall have screaming over Leeds and Bradford large international jet aircraft of the kind which at this moment are over the centre of London making their approach run in.
Those are the questions which I wanted to ask the Minister. I do not propose to detain him any longer at this late hour. I shall be interested to hear what he has to say.
§ 6.38 a.m.
The Minister of State, Board of Trade (Mr. J. P. W. MallaIieu)I congratulate the hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Sir D. Kaberry) on the pithiness and speed with which he has put his points. Not for the first time Yorkshire is providing a shining example which might be followed by Scotland.
The points made by the hon. Gentleman are important to everyone in the area, which to some extent includes my constituency We all know that noise is a 607 curse, particularly aircraft noise, but it would not be the wish of people in our region in Yorkshire, or indeed in any other region, that because noise is a nuisance we must stop the development of civil aviation. I do not think that anybody seriously suggests that. What they do say is that those who are responsible for the control of airports, in this instance the consortium of local authorities, must themselves watch the noise problem and lay down rules about the degree of noise which is permissible. I have not the slightest doubt that those who are dependent on the electorate are very susceptible to pressure in this matter.
It is difficult to say whether noise is likely to increase at the airport in the future. At present consideration is merely being given to a possible extension of the runway. No decision has been made, but if it were decided that the runway should be extended, it would mean that it could be used by jets, by larger aeroplanes than use it at present.
That is where the Government as a whole must come in. There was fairly recently an international conference on noise, when certain suggestions were made for noise certification of all future aircraft engines. They are now being followed up. We feel that it is so important to get international agreement about noise certification on future engines that we are pressing the point as hard as we can, and we hope reasonably shortly to make proposals which will ensure that noise levels are diminished rather than increased, as would otherwise happen.
I wish that I could give a direct answer to the hon. Gentleman on the future of the airport. I am not trying to evade him, but recently an examination has been made under the leadership of the West Riding into the future possibilities of Yeadon and of siting a new airport somewhere else in the region in the longterm future. As the hon. Gentleman said, Yeadon has limitations. The runways tend to suffer from cross-winds, and although the airport is very well placed for Bradford and Leeds it is less well placed for Huddersfield and other towns. It is not ideally sited.
The report of the inquiry is to be published, I think, tomorrow. Until it has been published and considered it 608 would be very unwise for me to give my own views of the likely developments. But I consider that the airport, which I use fairly frequently, has been a tremendous asset to the immediate area. It is a very good example of the municipal enterprise of Bradford and Leeds and, latterly, of the West Riding. A good deal of money has been spent on it, and in spite of the setback of the fire and so on the traffic has risen by much more than the average of other airports. There is no doubt that it will continue to serve a good and useful purpose for the immediate area.
I should not like to say much about the long-term question of a regional airport. The report to be published tomorrow must be considered by the British Airports Authority and others. It will go to the Regional Planning Committee and the economic development committees not only of our region but the whole of the North. The investigations and considerations will be under the general supervision of the Board of Trade.