§ Mr. Easthamasked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the original date for publication of the orders for the Denton to Middleton section of the Manchester outer ring road; what is the current date for publication of the orders; when the public inquiry was originally due to be held; and when he now expects the public inquiry to open.
§ Mrs. ChalkerWhen I wrote to the hon. Gentleman last July, I indicated that draft orders might be published at around the end of 1984 and that the public inquiry might get under way in the autumn of this year. We now plan to publish the orders in a few weeks time and to start the public inquiry next winter.
§ Mr. Easthamasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the results of his Department's investigation into the possibility of routeing the Manchester outer ring road over the redundant Chadderton power station site.
§ Mrs. ChalkerOur investigations into the suggested alternative route through the disused Chadderton power station have shown that it would cost about £2 million more than the original route and involve a loss of up to £4 million worth of economic benefits. I have therefore decided that the original route should form the basis of our statutory orders.
I have written to the hon. Gentleman.