§ 56 and 68. Mr. Bostonasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he will make a statement about the short-list of possible sites submitted to him by the Commission of Inquiry on the Third London Airport;
(2) whether he will make a statement about the timing of the local inquiries announced by the Roskill Commission; what is the policy of his Department regarding sites not on the short list; and whether he will give an assurance that the final choice will be one of the four short-listed sites.
§ Mr. CroslandAs my hon. Friend, the Member for Leicester, North-East (Mr. Bradley) was told on 3rd March, a copy of the letter I received from the Hon. Mr. Justice Roskill setting out the sites on the Commission's short list has been placed in the Library of the House. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the sites themselves, on the reasons for their selection by the Commission, or on the timing of the Commission's local hearings: these are matters for the Commission. I have, nevertheless been assured that in the case of the Foulness hearing the Commission will treat flexibly the published closing dates for106W applications and submissions. As for the date of the hearing itself there is a proper need in the interests of all concerned to move speedily, but it is, of course, open to anyone to make representations to the Commission for deferment of the hearing.
I understand that there is some concern at the absence of maps of flight paths and stacking areas from the Commission's published material. This is, of course, entirely a matter for the Commission, but they have preferred to publish maps of noise contours because in themselves flight path maps do not give a good indication of the disturbance caused by aircraft using them in the vicinity of the airport. I am told that the Commission have it in mind to publish flight path maps for the Stage V enquiry.
The Commission's recommendation on the choice of site will obviously carry great weight, but the final decision must remain a matter for the Government at the time.—[Vol 779, c. 55.]
§ 67. Mr. Maxwellasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will undertake to bear the costs of those appearing before the Commission of Inquiry on the third London airport; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. CroslandNo. To do so would be contrary to normal Government practice.
§ Mr. Onslowasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will ensure that evidence is made available to the committee inquiring into the possibility of siting the third London airport at Foulness, concerning average winter sea temperatures in that area, and the likely period of survival of passengers forced to take to the water from an aircraft ditched off the coast.
§ Mr. William RodgersYes.