Channel Tunnel

HC Deb 19 May 1971 vol 817 cc1255-7

20. Mr. Sheldon

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a further statement on the Channel Tunnel.

Mr. Peyton

I shall make a further statement when it is appropriate.

Mr. Sheldon

Is the Minister aware that his Department is failing miserably to answer some very simple questions from this side of the House? Will he now answer two specific questions? The private group at present examining the possibilities of a link between this country and France is not, as I understand it, examining the possibility of a road link. Does the Minister intend to make this part of its brief? Secondly, what kind of risk is this private company undertaking when both Governments have promised to reimburse it if it decides not to go ahead?

Mr. Peyton

The hon. Gentleman is trying to simplify the matter, which is more complicated than he makes it appear.

Mr. Sheldon

Give us the facts.

Mr. Peyton

As I have said on more than one occasion in response to questions from the hon. Gentleman, the first phase of the final studies has been embarked upon. As soon as that phase yields the results expected, I shall gladly give all the relevant information to the House.

As for the hon. Gentleman's point about a road tunnel, all the evidence that we have indicates that it would not only be more costly to construct and less profitable in its returns; it would also raise very great problems of ventilation, and these are the most serious of all. They are problems which would be almost entirely absent in the case of a rail tunnel.

Mr. John Wells

Will my right hon. Friend apply his mind to the problem that affects the whole of the county of Kent arising from the uncertainty over not only the tunnel itself but the approach roads thereto? Now that his Department has announced that the third London airport is to be at Foulness, greater road uncertainties have been created in our county. Will my right hon. Friend look at the whole question of tunnels in the South-East, not only the Channel Tunnel but a Thames tunnel linking Foulness to the Continent, because we are suffering grave uncertainties throughout the county and not just in the coastal constituencies?

Mr. Peyton

I am conscious of the anxieties felt by many people in Kent. They have been voiced by my hon. Friend today and on other occasions. It is difficult wholly to allay those anxieties when one has to make proper preparations for a sensible decision. Perhaps I might call another factor to my hon. Friend's attention. If a tunnel were not built, there would also be great problems of development of other airfields, of greater port capacity, and the rest, which would equally affect Kent very seriously. However, I am conscious of the importance of what my hon. Friend has said. I was in Kent last weekend to inform myself of some of the problems.

Mrs. Renée Short

The right hon. Gentleman referred to the problems of ventilation. Is he not aware that there is a sound and valid engineering solution to the problems, and that the Dutch and Americans have a great deal of experience in underwater building? In view of the fact that the proposals before him are outdated and that the growth in the use of the motor car has been so great since then, is not it a nonsense to build something which will not allow people to drive across? Will he look at the matter again?

Mr. Peyton

A lot of the questions that I am asked are about pollution caused by motor vehicles. It is the intensity of the problems which would be caused in a road tunnel by motor vehicles which at present has ruled out this possibility.

If I might refer back to the last point made by the hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Sheldon), who has so persistently questioned me on the subject, he referred to the risks. I am sure that the risks in a rail tunnel would be absolutely minimized—

Mr. Sheldon

No. Financial risks.

Mr. Peyton

I am sorry. The hon. Gentleman said "risks". I misunderstood him. I should prefer not to comment on the financial risks until the first phase of these studies is completed. If he will particularise his anxieties, I shall do my best to satisfy him.

Mr. Sheldon

I did particularise. I asked the right hon. Gentleman to examine the situation that has arisen from the joint communiqué issued by the French Transport Minister and the right hon. Gentleman, in which it is made clear that if the private group decides not to go ahead its costs will be reimbursed. What sort of risk taking is that?

Mr. Peyton

I do not wish to be unhelpful to the hon. Gentleman, but this is a complicated matter in which two Governments are involved. If he cares to put down a Question on those lines, I shall do my best to satisfy him.