HC Deb 10 January 1977 vol 923 cc1027-9
4. Mr. Newens

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the future development of Stansted Airport.

Mr. Clinton Davis

Our consultations on airports policy, which includes Stansted, should be completed within the next few months. I cannot anticipate what decisions the Government will reach after they have considered all the submissions made in the course of the consultations, about Stansted or any other airport.

Mr. Newens

Although the majority of people will probably not object in principle to a modest expansion of the traffic at Stansted, surely it is unreasonable, particularly in the light of the Roskill Report and the implications for urban growth, to permit unlimited expansion. Therefore, will my hon. Friend say quite clearly whether he is prepared to accept the principle of placing a ceiling on development, which I believe would be a good planning principle for applications concerning not only Stansted but all the London airports?

Mr. Davis

My hon. Friend knows very well that the consultation documents which have been issued by my Department have set out a whole variety of options which may be considered. In these circumstances, it would not be right for me to prejudge the report which will be made to the House in due course when all the submissions have been considered. As my hon. Friend knows, I have invited him to lead a delegation to see me and my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment so that all the submissions on Stansted that he wants to represent can be put forward.

Mr. Ian Stewart

Will the Under-Secretary of State accept that what the hon. Member for Harlow (Mr. Newens) has said applies equally to Luton and that the whole question of the smaller airports in the Home Counties needs to be reconsidered in the light of the great population increase in recent years and the unexpected increase in air traffic? These airports would not have been situated where they are had those developments been expected. Therefore, will the Government recognise that airport policy needs to be settled on a regional basis and not by building up the smaller local airports?

Mr. Davis

What I have said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Newens) applies equally to all the other airports which are the subject of the consultations which are going on. The Government have, for the first time in the history of this country, been trying to devise a national airports strategy. That needs to be approached carefully and profoundly, and that we are doing.