HC Deb 26 October 1972 vol 843 cc398-9W
Mr. Harold Walker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make an assessment of the extent to which noise levels and the proximity of affected dwellings at Bessacarr and Cantley No. 1 estate in the County Borough of Doncaster, when the M18 motorway is completed, will be analogous to the situation in Gateshead where 64 dwellings are to be demolished because of injurious affection arising from road works on the A1.

Mr. Speed

A first assessment indicates little analogy between the environmental effects of the two schemes.

Mr. Harold Walker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent the public inquiry into the Wadworth/Hatfield section of the M18 motorway took account of the Government's Code of Practice on Noise.

Mr. Speed

The inquiry of March, 1971, had before it a detailed assessment of environmental factors, including noise, by a firm of consultants but no Government Code then existed in this field nor has one yet been announced.

Mr. Harold Walker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if, in view of the effect of Putting People First on the comparative costings of alternative routes he will re-open the public inquiry into the Wadworth/Hatfield section of the M18 motorway;

(2) if, in view of the change in comparative costs following publication of Putting People First, he will review the selection of route for the Wadworth/Hatfield section of the M18 motorway.

Mr. Speed

The effect on comparative costs is unlikely to be of such significance as to justify either a review of the selection of this part of the M18 route announced in March, 1972, or the reopening of the inquiry held in March, 1971.

Mr. Harold Walker

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent the additional costs arising from Putting People First were taken into account in his estimates presented to the public inquiry into the Wadworth Hatfield section of the M18 motorway; and what these costs are.

Mr. Speed

The estimates given at the inquiry in March, 1971, allowed for expenditure on remedial action and other costs in accordance with the current compensation code. No exact estimates can yet he given of possible additional costs.