HUMBER BRIDGE (Hansard, 30 November 1965)

§ LORD PEDDIE
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ LORD LINDGREN
My Lords, the Government accept that a Humber Bridge should be built if it is justified to meet the development needs of the area. Account will be taken of the advice which has been received from the Yorkshire and Humberside Economic Planning Council, but at the present time our limited resources do not allow us to give construction of such a bridge the highest priority. We must cater first for the urgent needs of through-traffic in the area.

§ LORD PEDDIE
My Lords, I would thank my noble friend for that Answer, which I interpret as being a "Yes" to the question of whether the Humber Bridge is an integral part of a plan for the development of Humberside. I would also ask him, in view of the comments he makes, and in view of the fact that advice is being taken from the Humberside authorities, whether he is aware that a recent authoritative survey indicates that 10,000 vehicles a day could use the bridge, and that this number would be likely to increase when the bridge was built.

§ LORD LINDGREN
Yes, my Lords, and the present road proposals for the area—which amount to a £50 million programme—are so planned as to link up with a bridge as and when that bridge becomes urgently necessary. In regard to the latter part of my noble friend's question, I shall, of course, be happy to look at the figures he has been provided with. But the figures I have been given from a recent survey show that, in so far as East-West routes are concerned, there are 15,000 vehicles a day; and it could be only an assessment taken from the traffic as it was travelling, that 4,000 vehicles a day would use the Humber Bridge if and when it is built.

§ LORD DERWENT
My Lords, could the noble Lord explain his first Answer? 1137 Did he not say that the Humber Bridge would be considered necessary only when through-traffic had already been dealt with? Is not the Humber Bridge part of the through-traffic flow?

§ LORD LINDGREN
My Lords, the major traffic is East-West from the port to the Great North Road. It would certainly be of considerable assistance to the development of the area if one had a bridge as well as these roads, but in the present circumstances the most urgent problem is that of the improvement of the road communications from the East to the West, and I think perhaps there is some reason for complaint that they were not dealt with earlier.

§ LORD COLERAINE
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord, Lord Lindgren, whether he remembers that as long ago as 1931 a Bill for the construction of the Humber Bridge nearly got through both Houses of Parliament, and would certainly have done so had it not been for the intervening General Election of 1931? If this matter was urgent then, is it not still more urgent now? May I put this further question? If there is to be substantial development on the South hank of the Humber without the building of a Humber Bridge, will that not have the effect of still further isolating the ancient city of Kingston-upon-Hull, and would that not he a grave injustice to that city?

§ LORD LINDGREN
The noble Lord is quite correct. There was a proposal in 1931. And I think that even before that there was a proposal which did not get so far as a Bill. There is also the Humber Bridge Act, which went through Parliament during the period of the last Government, and is in existence. If, in fact, development in the area warrants it urgently, the question of the bridge will, of course, be considered. There are two possibilities. Noble Lords will know exploration is going on at the present time in regard to gas and oil in the North Sea. Finding gas or oil in commercially exploitable quantities would immediately alter the whole economics of Humberside. Equally, if the Minister of Housing and Local Government, with whom our roads programme was agreed prior to being announced, were to decide that a New Town is required in Lincolnshire, that, too, would make a difference to the urgency of the construction of the bridge.

§ LORD WADE
My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that there is some degree of urgency in this matter, in view of the new developments proposed on the South bank of the Humber; and is it not now essential that there should be an adequate link for several reasons, including mobility of labour? Surely the building of this bridge should be given top priority in the development of the Humberside.

§ LORD LINDGREN
My Lords, this applies to practically every area in the country. Every area feels that, for its own development, something additional is urgently needed. But in the assessment or my right honourable friends, and also, I might say (because I have been to Hull and discussed it with them) of the County Borough Council and the Chamber of Commerce and Shipping, the most urgent need is to implement the £50 million roads programme to improve communications from East to West. The bridge, as and when it becomes urgently necessary, will be in addition.

§ LORD PEDDIE
My noble friend stated that the bridge would be built when conditions warrant it urgently. Would he give a specific indication of the precise nature of the conditions that would justify the building of the bridge?

§ LORD LINDGREN
My Lords, I thought I had done so. In existing circumstances the roads are more urgent. If oil and gas were found in the North Sea, or if a New Town were planned for Lincolnshire, the bridge could become urgent and the matter would be dealt with on that basis.

§ LORD DERWENT
My Lords, may I finally ask the noble Lord: is he saying that the Government have no idea in their own mind as to when this bridge might be built?

§ LORD LINDGREN
No, my Lords, because I am not aware, nor are the Government, nor are the Ministry of Transport, as to what are likely to be the possibilities of development on Humberside arising from the finding of gas or oil in the North Sea.

§ LORD DERWENT
The answer then, ought to have been "Yes, my Lords" not "No, my Lords", if that is the correct answer to the question.