§ 10.3 pm
§ Mr. Harry Greenway (Ealing, North)I beg leave to present a petition from the people of the constituency of Ealing, North, which states:
the constituency of Ealing, North declares its strong support for Harry Greenway, Member of Parliament for Ealing, North, in his opposition to plans to establish a rail link from the Midlands to the Channel Tunnel which would cut through the borough of Ealing.The rail link would run through seven areas of Metropolitan Open land and Green Belt, including the Perivale Wood and Islip Manor and would vastly increase railway traffic to five heavy freight trains per hour with the noise and pollution that this would bring.The proposal has incurred enormous opposition from my constituency and myself, because, although we all want to see freight move from road to rail, we do not wish to see pollution of such open areas of land as remain within the borough of Ealing, particularly those in Perivale and Northolt. We could not support a railway operation of this magnitude running within inches of people's homes, to the detriment of their lives.My constituents have proposed this petition with my strong support. The petition is signed by hundreds of thousands of people.
The petitioners request that the Secretary of State for Transport and Members of the House of Commons reject these proposals of Central Railways.The Petitioners remain ever more
§ To lie upon the Table.