HC Deb 16 November 1977 vol 939 cc561-2
12. Mr. Knox

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when the preferred route for the Stoke—Derby link road will be published.

Mr. Horam

It will take some time to deal with the whole 42 miles of the link. However, I hope to bring forward much more quickly proposals for dealing with the most urgent sections.

Mr. Knox

Does the Minister agree that the sooner the line of route from Derby to Stoke is settled and finished, the better it will be for everybody concerned, particularly for those of my constituents who have the misfortune to live on this road?

Mr. Horam

I shall consult my right hon. Friend on this matter.

Mr. MacFarquhar

Is my hon. Friend aware that his visit to my constituency to consult on this route was warmly received by those who met him? Is he able at this stage to comment on the proposals of the Derby-Stoke Action Group, which he met?

Mr. Horam

This road, as my hon. Friend knows, is given personal attention by my right hon. Friend and myself. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks. The proposals of the DeSTAG will be examined with all the others, and will be commented upon later.

Mr. Hugh Fraser

Have the proposals for the M64 been dropped?

Mr. Horam

I think the right hon. Gentleman is talking about the name of the proposals that proceded the present one. It was at one time called the M64 proposal between Stoke and Derby. It is now called the Derby-Stoke link. It has not been dropped. We are considering a road along various alternative lines within this corridor.

Mr. Lawrence

Is the Minister aware of the urgency of the Derby-Stoke link road, bearing in mind the fact that it might relieve some of the intolerable burden of traffic that thunders dangerously through Uttoxeter, and is he also aware that the citizens and industry of the area would prefer the speedy construction of the Uttoxeter bypass?

Mr. Horam

That was the whole point of our reconsidering the M64 proposal, as it was originally called—the present Stoke-Derby link. We are examining the matter with a view to providing relief as quickly as possible to those areas and villages which need it most pressingly. We are examining the scheme as a whole rather than the economic proposals originally conceived.