HC Deb 20 March 1997 vol 292 cc762-4W
Mr. Livingstone

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold a planning conference into the proposed A36 Salisbury bypass. [21247]

Mr. Watts

No. Public consultation on three alternative routes for the bypass in 1988 showed overwhelming support for a route to the south of the city. This resulted in the selection of the published route which was the subject of year-long public inquiry held between 20 April 1993 and 27 April 1994. The inspector recommended in favour of the published route with one modification to take it further away from housing at Harnham on the south-west outskirts of the city.

Mr. Livingstone

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the evidence submitted from the statutory agencies into the environmental impacts of the proposed A36 Salisbury bypass; and if he will announce a timetable for further consultation on this evidence. [21246]

Mr. Watts

Written representations by English Nature, English Heritage and the National Rivers Authority were made publicly available during the 1993–94 public inquiry into the proposed bypass. None of these bodies nor the Countryside Commission appeared at the inquiry to object to the proposed bypass. The report on the public inquiry was published on 29 October last year when my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Transport announced that they were minded to confirm the draft orders to authorise construction of the bypass subject to their further consideration of certain specified matters.

Since then, English Nature, the Countryside Commission and the Environment Agency have been consulted in the course of reviews of the bypass which my right hon. Friends instructed the Highways Agency to carry out before they made a final decision on the scheme. The Highways Agency report on these reviews was placed in the Library on 17 March. It included the responses to the agency. The agency's report by the bodies they consulted will now be sent to interested parties to allow them an opportunity to comment. These comments will be taken into account in reaching a final decision on the bypass along with other representations received since last October's announcement. Six weeks are to be allowed for comments on the agency's report.

Mr. Livingstone

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received from the Wiltshire area(a) for and (b) against the proposed Salisbury bypass since the start of the public inquiry. [21244]

Mr. Watts

The inspector who held the public inquiry reported objections to the bypass from some 300 sources, 20 of which were subsequently withdrawn. In addition, there were 280 pro-forma objections and four petitions of objection. He reported support for the bypass from 40 sources and one petition of support. He also reported that publication of objectors alternative routes attracted support for the published proposals from 75 additional sources.

Between the close of the inquiry and the announcement on 29 October last year that my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Transport and for the Environment were minded to confirm the draft orders authorising construction of the bypass a further 166 representations were received which included some 120 general objections to the bypass and three letters of support. Since the announcement on 29 October, a further 2,771 representations have been received of which 2,599 are pro forma postcards and letters. Of these representations, 802 are for the bypass and 1,956 against. The majority of representations are from the Wiltshire area.