HL Deb 07 April 1970 vol 309 cc6-8
LORD SEGAL

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

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (1) What is the estimated additional cost of extending the M.40 Motorway over the Chilterns to the North of the existing A.40 roadway, and
  2. (2) Which organisations are known so far to have expressed disapproval of the decision to extend the M.40 Motorway over the Chilterns South of the existing A.40 roadway.]

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, R.A.F. (LORD WINTER-BOTTOM)

My Lords, the additional cost of constructing the motorway over the Chilterns to the North of the A.40, on an alignment proposed by objectors at the public inquiry, is estimated to be at least £500,000. Disapproval of the decision of my right honourable friend, the Minister of Transport, has been expressed by the organisations which took the lead in opposing his proposals at the public inquiry, notably the Chiltern Society, the Oxford Branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, the Berks, Bucks and Oxford Naturalists' Trust and the Ramblers' Association.

LORD SEGAL

My Lords, I should like to thank my noble friend for that reply. Is my noble friend aware that the opposition has increased, rather than diminished, since the Minister of Transport explained the reasons for his decision, and that this opposition was due as much to the procedure by which the decision was arrived at as by the decision itself? Could not the Government have announced their decision tentatively, rather on the lines of the Green Paper for the National Health Service, and then held the official inquiry subsequently, so that public discussion could have been focused far more effectively on all the points at issue?

LORD W1NTERBOTTOM

My Lords, I am not aware that resistance to the proposals of my right honourable friend has increased since the Statement was made. I think the resistance was pretty strong at the time of the inquiry, but, as with all these cases, the decision was supported by some and opposed by others. A great deal of expert opinion was in support of my right honourable friend, including the local planning authority, which is the Oxfordshire County Council, the Chiltern Standing Conference and the Countryside Commission. In addition, the Minister's Landscape Advisory Committee, which includes a number of eminent amenity experts, recommended the route. I should have thought—and I hope my noble friend will agree—that a large measure of consultation took place before the decision was reached.

LORD SEGAL

My Lords, since the decision was arrived at, have the Government been able to give fuller consideration to the Arup-Jellicoe proposals? Has not the long correspondence in The Times brought forward further material which still requires a great deal of consideration?

LORD WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, the Arup-Jellicoe line was carefully considered. I am afraid, however, that, important though The Times newspaper is, correspondence in it is not perhaps as important as a public inquiry, where the decision was reached.

LORD LINDGREN

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the negotiations in regard to this road have been going on for over ten years; and is it not about time that they stopped talking and did some work?

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, may I ask my noble friend how many trees would have to be felled if the motorway went to the North of the A.40, as advocated by many of the amenity societies?

LORD WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, my noble friend has put his finger on the key objection to the Arup-Jellicoe line. Twenty-six acres of beechwood would have to be felled. I do not know how many trees that represents, but it is a lot, and it would leave a great notch in the crest of the hill which would be visible from all over the Oxford plain.