§ Sir R. Thompsonasked the Minister of Transport why his plans for the route of the London-Crawley motorway were not co-ordinated with those of the local authorities which have prepared schemes for the redevelopment of the former Croydon Airport; to what extent uncertainty over the line of the motorway will inhibit necessary redevelopment on the airport site; and why he has been unable to reach a decision on this during the four years for which the airport has been closed to flying.
§ Mr. MarplesI co-ordinated my plans with those of the local authorities as soon as I possibly could. A line for the motorway proposed by Surrey County Council in 1959 ran west of the airport site, and was opposed by the localborough council. This, and major problems further south, convinced me that a further survey was needed. The consulting engineers appointed to make this survey examined the problem urgently, knowing that the Minister of Housing was shortly expected to confirm the general lines on which the site should be redeveloped, but also that his proposals would leave room for a possible motorway line across that large part of the site which is not being otherwise built upon. Immediately the consultants had taken their thinking far enough, contact was made with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Aviation and the local authorities. These contacts have been maintained in a way which will ensure that a redevelopment of the open part of the site is inhibited as little as possible. Planning on this scale necessarily takes time, and the pace at which it is done is of course closely related to priorities of construction.