§ 51. Mr. J. E. B. Hillasked the Minister of Transport why the construction of the Thetford inner relief road has not yet begun.
§ Mr. SwinglerA compulsory purchase order was made in March this year. That completed the statutory processes. Arrangements could then start to rehouse the tenants of properties which must be demolished. These are in hand and we hope that construction can start in the autumn.
§ Mr. HillIs the Parliamentary Secretary aware that this measure of interim relief, which was supposed to bridge the gap before a by-pass proper could be constructed, has taken a very long time? Would it not be possible to authorise an earlier start, since the borough council was fully confident that it could carry out any rehousing required very quickly?
§ Mr. SwinglerI am concerned about this just as much as the hon. Gentleman. There has been a long delay, and there have been special difficulties about a pedestrian subway, about the acquisition of common land and about the special 1053 river crossing. This has made the statutory processes in this case particularly complex. The date given is probably the earliest that this can be done, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we will try to speed this on as much as possible.