§ 2.54 p.m.
§ The Earl of Onslow asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ What action they propose to prevent the illegal parking of caravans on the A.3 at Potters Lane, Send.
§ Lord Brabazon of TaraMy Lords, my right honourable friend is seeking an order through the county court for vacant possession of the highway land. He hopes to obtain a hearing early in March and in the event of an order being granted the land could be vacated within a few weeks.
§ The Earl of OnslowMy Lords, will my noble friend urge upon his right honourable friend not to make the link, which he has done in correspondence to me, between Section 143 of the Highways Act and the Caravan Sites Act 1968? That is the excuse which the department has been using. This matter has been going on since 1985 and the local authority and local people are becoming extremely irked and cross because nothing has been done. After all, we did manage to remove 11,000 Argentinians from the Falkland Islands in three months and it seems a little ridiculous not to be able to get rid of three caravans in five years.
§ Lord Brabazon of TaraMy Lords, I am well aware of my noble friend's concern but I can reassure him that the order we seek at present will be under Order 24 of the County Court Rules, 1981.