§ Mr. Jack Straw (Blackburn)I beg to ask leave to present a petition on behalf of the residents of the borough of Blackburn and of east Lancashire, concerning the M65 motorway.
The petition shows that the construction of the M65 motorway to connect east Lancashire with the main M6/M61 motorway system was promised by the Government of the day in recognition of the needs of the area for an efficient transport system. The petition states that in July 1979 the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, the hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), issued a press statement saying:
the previous Government have given the M65 a high priority, and that he would continue to give it the same priority.The petition also states that, contrary to that undertaking, the Secretary of State for Transport announced in April 1980 that the motorway would terminate at Whitebirk, with the axing of the link between Blackburn and the M6/M61 and that that decision will force thousands of heavy lorries and other vehicles through the residential areas of Brownhill, Whitebirk, Little Harwood, Pleckgate, Revidge and Mellor Bridge and face residents with disturbance, noise, vibration and danger.The petition continues:
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House will call upon the Secretary of State for Transport to restore this vital Motorway link.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
§ To lie upon the Table.