HC Deb 05 April 1978 vol 947 cc433-6
22. Mr. Shepherd

asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether his impending White Paper on roads will contain proposals for bypasses and relief roads.

Mr. William Rodgers

The White Paper, which was published yesterday, lists all my current proposals for trunk road schemes, including bypasses and relief roads.

Mr. Shepherd

Is the Minister aware that there will be much relief in Ross-on-Wye that the long-awaited, much-needed relief road is still shown in his White Paper to start in 1981–83? Can he give an assurance that the timetable in the White Paper will actually be met?

Mr. Rodgers

I hope that it will not slip. As the hon. Member knows, we have lengthy procedures now which have to be gone through before construction work begins. I should certainly like to keep to the timetable that was set out yesterday.

Mr. Raphael Tuck

Is it not essential that these bypasses and relief roads be built as quickly as possible, because we are getting more and more juggernauts from Europe which are ruining our wads, not paying their full track costs and unfairly competing with the railways?

Mr. Rodgers

I agree that we should move as quickly as possible, but my hon. Friend will recognise that 10 or 20 years ago roads were built more rapidly because there was less resistance to them and less consultation. The present-day requirement for consultation at every stage—which I think the House recognises—inevitably lengthens the process of construction, irrespective of the cost and whether any unusual hazards are discovered.

Mr. Warren

May we have an assurance that the Secretary of State will reverse the iniquitous policy of his Department, which has doubled the number of vehicles that are required to travel on a road before that road can qualify as a dual carriageway? Does he agree that no account is taken of the length of these vehicles, as the hon. Member for Watford (Mr. Tuck) said?

Mr. Rodgers

I should have thought that following the Leitch Report the tendency was for more and not less flexible decisions on standards. I have to judge, in the light of the traffic that the roads will have to bear, the cost of the roads, and environmental considerations, what the standards should be. Sometimes these standards might be lower standards—or might seem to be lower—than was hitherto intended. We have to strike a balance. I should have thought that that was what the House wanted.

24. Mr. Hal Miller

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the White Paper on roads.

Mr. William Rodgers

As the hon. Gentleman knows, it was published yesterday.

Mr. Miller

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his White Paper and the spirit in which he has attempted to meet some of the criticisms that have been made in the House. Can he be more explicit on the review procedure in the White Paper? How can the public or hon. Members participate in the review of priorities—for example, the proposal that the M42 Bromsgrove section should not be built until the M5 has been widened?

Mr. Rodgers

There is no problem in hon. Members' participating in any review of priorities. Hon. Members make frequent representations to me and my hon. Friend. We are always sympathetic towards these representations, given the context in which decisions have to be made.

As I said yesterday, I should welcome—and I think that the country would—a debate in the House at a convenient time on the principles underlying our road programme, the matters set out in the White Paper and, if necessary, individual schemes in which hon. Members have a particular interest.

Mr. MacFarquhar

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the White Paper. May I ask him if the clear implication is that in future more stress will be placed on bypasses rather than old-style motorways and that this will imply, in the case of the Derby-Stoke link, greater attention to proposals for that kind of treatment for that route?

Mr. Rodgers

The answer is "Yes" to both parts of my hon. Friend's question.

Mr. Boscawen

I applaud the intention to give greater priority to bypasses of historic towns and villages. Will the Secretary of State give more attention to the South-West of England, for which there is little flesh in his White Paper, particularly in regard to bypasses in Somerset? Will he be open to further representations on this matter in the future

Mr. Rodgers

I shall certainly be open to representations on that question. It is not easy to decide priorities. We have to do this, not only within regions but between regions, according to the principles set out in the White Paper. The particular priority that we want to give to the ports and the outer London orbital road, for instance, has to be weighed against the background of our wish to protect the environment.