Mr. John M. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is his policy on the construction of the rail link between the Land Rover plant in Solihull and the west coast main line; and if he will make a statement. [100521]
§ Mr. HillThe Rover Group Ltd. applied on 18 November to the Secretary of State for an Order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 to authorise this rail link. The period by which objections or other representations should be lodged ends on 14 January 2000. The Secretary of State will then consider whether a public inquiry should be held into the proposal.
The application will be considered on its merits in the light of relevant policies. These include, on the one hand, our policy of encouraging the movement of freight by rail rather than road where appropriate and, on the other, the restrictive planning policies that apply to development in the Green Belt. These issues and any others raised by interested parties will be carefully considered by the Secretary of State in deciding whether or not to make the Order.