HC Deb 04 August 1976 vol 916 cc1709-11
13. Mr. Madden

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to announce a decision over the establishment of a national heavy lorry route.

Dr. Gilbert

As soon as possible. The issues are complex and I am considering the representations received during the recent consultations between the Department and the various interested organisations.

Mr. Madden

Does my hon. Friend accept that there is considerable anxiety, not least in my constituency, amongst residents who live alongside trunk roads which are close to and parallel with motorways—in this case the M62? Will he endeavour to assure those residents that their roads will not be included in any designated national lorry route? Will he give an assurance today that he will give details of those roads which will definitely be affected in some way or other, as opposed to those roads which can be totally excluded from any national lorry route, as that would go a long way to allaying the anxiety that I have described?

Dr. Gilbert

I am well aware of my hon. Friend's concern, which I think relates particularly to the A.646, which runs very close to the M62. He will appreciate that I am not yet in a position to give a positive assurance about any particular road. The map that was attached to the discussion paper on this subject was meant only to illustrate the density of the network and not the eventual status of any of the roads marked on it.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

Is it not extraordinary that the Government should be urging local authorities to establish heavy vehicle commercial routes when it is very unlikely that funds will be available to local authorities to improve the routes that they designate to carry heavy traffic? Is this not a great disadvantage to the environment in many rural areas?

Dr. Gilbert

I entirely agree. This is one of the many difficulties with which we are faced on this question. It is one of the most complicated questions with which one has to wrestle at present in the Department of the Environment. Another difficulty is that there has been no consensus whatever in the consultations that have taken place, including those with many of the organisations close to the hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Hooley

Is my hon. Friend aware that he could achieve excellent cuts in public expenditure, which would be widely applauded, if he scrapped any proposals for heavy lorry routes through the Peak District National Park or other national parks?

Dr. Gilbert

I know of no proposal for putting a lorry route through the Peak District National Park. One of the objectives of establishing a national lorry route would be to get heavy goods vehicles away from environmentally sensitive areas. However, costs are attached to this matter, and in the early stages I doubt whether it will be possible to achieve this objective, which I share with my hon. Friend.

Mr. Dykes

Is the Minister also satisfied that the area controls now being drawn up by local authorities will fit in well with and be consistent and harmonious with the national lorry routes?

Dr. Gilbert

By the time we come to take decisions about what roads would be in a national lorry network, we shall have the benefit of all the proposals from local authorities, and as far as possible we shall see to it that they are harmonious.