§ 14. Mr. E. L. Mallalieuasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to make a statement on Government policy with regard to the canals under the control of the British Transport Commission.
§ Mr. WatkinsonI would refer the hon. and learned Member to the answer which I gave my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Nantwich (Mr. Grant-Ferris) on 1st February.
§ 34. Mr. Holtasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to broaden the terms of reference given to the Committee of Inquiry into the future of the country's system of inland waterways so that it may examine proposals for new waterways or a new waterways system if they so desire.
§ Mr. WatkinsonNo. The construction of an entirely new waterways system would not be a practical proposition in the foreseeable future. The essential need is to make the best use of the system which we already have and the committee's terms of reference are already wide enough to allow it to recommend any measures it thinks necessary to achieve this.