Newbury Bypass (Hansard, 13 March 1995)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Viscount Goschen)
My Lords, the Secretary of State for Transport has asked the Highways Agency to look again at the plans for the bypass and to explore other options. He will announce his decision on the way forward after he has had the opportunity to consider carefully the Highway Agency's report.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, can my noble friend say when that consideration will be concluded? 554 Is he aware that the situation is extremely urgent? Newbury is crowded out with traffic. The noble Earl, Lord Carnarvon, who unhappily is not able to be present, has reported a four-and-a-half mile queue on the A.34 running into Newbury. Is my noble friend aware that this matter is very urgent indeed and has been delayed for a very long time?

§ Viscount Goschen
Yes, my Lords, we appreciate the congestion difficulties in Newbury. My right honourable friend has said that he expects to be able to make an announcement in time for the publication of the road scheme starts for the year 1996–97.

§ The Earl of Huntingdon
My Lords, can the Minister tell us what other options there can be for the bypass? Does he realise that the traffic management schemes put in place for the Sainsbury development only last until 1997? Does he also realise that there is a new development to put alongside the A.343 roundabout which will cause even more problems for the residents of Newbury and travellers through it if it goes ahead before the bypass is built?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, those are just the kind of issues that have been taken into consideration and will continue to be taken into consideration. The remit of the review is to consider all practical options.

§ Lord Clinton-Davis
My Lords, will the Minister indicate the stage at which the Government decided to change course on this matter and the specific grounds that necessitated that change of view?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, my right honourable friend made an announcement in December last year. The Secretary of State felt that this was a scheme which had an unusual degree of continuing public interest. In the light of that, he decided that he would initiate a review to make sure that we had the right solution for the people of Newbury and to investigate other solutions.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that this scheme has been under considerable discussion for nearly 20 years? Does he appreciate that when anything is stopped it means an exceptionally long delay before it starts up again? Will he accept that we must have an early decision on this matter; otherwise, there are two sets of planning blight—on the west route and the east route—so that many people are affected while nothing is going ahead at all?

§ Viscount Goschen
Yes, my Lords, this situation has been going on for a long while. We seek to make a decision as soon as possible.

§ Earl Russell
My Lords, does the Minister agree that some part of the congestion in Newbury arises because it lies between the Midlands and Southampton Docks? Would he therefore consider doing something to avoid the choice between causing congestion in Newbury or pollution in the surrounding countryside, by making progress with the high speed rail link to the Channel Tunnel?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, that is slightly wide of the Question on the Order Paper. We are indeed making 555 progress on the public transport issue. But the point is that there is continuing demand in Newbury. At the moment there is a bad situation. There is extensive congestion and we need a solution to address that problem which already exists, never mind what might happen in the future.

§ Lord Clinton-Davis
My Lords, if a decision were to be made in favour of the bypass within the timescale indicated by the Minister, can he say when work would be likely to commence, having regard to the concerns already expressed on both sides of the House about this matter?

§ Viscount Goschen
No, my Lords, I do not think that I can say that. It would depend on what the review says. I do to want to pre-empt the review. But I said that we would seek to make an announcement as soon as possible and to take forward as soon as possible any further work that might develop.

§ Lord Stoddart of Swindon
My Lords, is the Minister aware that when I fought the Newbury constituency on two occasions in 1959 and 1964 a grave traffic problem existed at that time also? I have listened carefully to the answers given both now and previously by the Minister and I still cannot understand why the Government ordered the review. What is the mystery? Can the noble Viscount explain why, on the eve of the project being started, the Secretary of State suddenly decided to have a review? We have not had that question answered and I should like it answered now.

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, ultimately, as proposer of the scheme, it is up to the Secretary of State for Transport whether a project should go ahead, even after the statutory processes have been gone through. We have now been through two public inquiries on the issue. I stated that the Secretary of State felt that a review was necessary because of the continuing level of public interest in the scheme. It is the responsibility of the Secretary of State and he must satisfy himself that the right solution has been found.