§ 10. Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of the industrial problems facing the older towns of Lancashire, he will now abandon his plans for building a new town in central Lancashire.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerNo, Sir. The new town will be of lasting benefit to the whole economy of Lancashire.
§ Mr. ReedI welcome the fact that Lord Rothschild has completed the study of regional policy which my right hon. Friend commissioned. If this heralds a more flexible, more sophisticated and more equitable regional policy in the North-West and, in particular, if it ends the discrimination at present practised against my constituents, Bolton's fears about this new town will to a considerable extent be assuaged.
§ Mr. WalkerI cannot comment on the points which my hon. Friend has made except to say that I am certain that, by proceeding with a new town in Lancashire along the lines we have suggested, Bolton as well as other areas will benefit.
Mr. J. T. PriceIs the Secretary of State aware that, irrespective of where any of us sit in the House, many Lancashire Members, including myself, have always been extremely sceptical about this vast new town project at Chorley, since the towns of South-East Lancashire have a fine infrastructure of services already, with surplus labour and many people unemployed? We would hate to see these existing, built-up communities run down for the sake of creating a speculative new town for which there is no real demand in Lancashire.
§ Mr. WalkerI do not accept that the new town in question will have that effect. In fact, it has been so planned and it will be so developed over a period of time as to be of benefit to the whole of the Lancashire region. Almost every new town that has been proceeded with in this country has received attention from plenty of sceptics before being created.