§ 11. Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he is proposing to speed the flow of traffic and in respect of parking in London and the surrounding boroughs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NorrisRed route measures—allied to strict enforcement of parking controls on red routes by the police—will reduce congestion on London's main roads. Elsewhere, the new local authority parking enforcement system will substantially increase the resources available for parking enforcement, and thus help to tackle the problems caused by illegal parking throughout London.
§ Mr. GreenwayWhat is my hon. Friend doing to increase the provision of parking, which is much needed in inner and outer London, especially in Ealing? Has he been caught in traffic jams on the approach to the wedding cake in front of Buckingham palace? If so, does he remember the great value to all traffic of being able to drive around the wedding cake? Is it really necessary to 11 block half of it for the Queen's safety? Surely she can be made safe and a right of way properly maintained to the benefit of London traffic.
§ Mr. NorrisThis is exciting stuff, but I fear that the roads in question are the responsibility of Westminster city council. I have encountered that interesting traffic experiment, and we must all wait to see how it works in practice. As for providing more parking space in central London, which was the thrust of my hon. Friend's serious question, I cannot give the guarantee that he seeks, precisely because the provision of parking, especially for those who commute into central London by car, is the greatest invitation to commuting, which produces the congestion about which my hon. Friend and his constituents complain. The control of private non-residential parking is more likely to play a part in urban transport planning in future.
§ Mr. CorbynDoes the Minister accept that he must be much bolder if he is to reduce London traffic flows and clean up the air? He must seriously cut the number of parking spaces available in central London and, above all, of the planning permissions still being granted for new office development that include a large number of internal car parks, which are filled with the vehicles of expense-account motorists, whom we are all subsidising as taxpayers.
§ Mr. NorrisStripping some of the Marxist rhetoric from the hon. Gentleman's question—[Interruption.] I am sorry, Madam Speaker, perhaps not Marxist, but then I am an amateur in such matters. The hon. Gentleman's remarks contain the germ of a perfectly sensible idea. Government planning policy note No. 13 makes the same point and emphasises the importance of the report of the Royal Commission on environmental pollution. We all have choices to make about air quality, allied to our own wishes and the apparently increasing desire among the population to improve it. That is felt nowhere more acutely than in town centres.