§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Minister of Transport if he will take steps to change the present procedure whereby a person or persons can unreasonably delay the building of a major roadway by being allowed to make at least three separate objections, thus causing three separate public inquiries; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Tom FraserThe present procedures were laid down in the Trunk Roads Act, 1946 and the Special Roads Act, 1949, now consolidated in the Highways Act, 1959, and in the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946. There is provision for these procedures to be carried out concurrently and, except for Compulsory Purchase Orders, I have power to dispense with an inquiry where I am satisfied that in the circumstances it is unnecessary and where there is no objection from a local authority. Thus in practice it is common to hold only one inquiry for a major road scheme. These procedures are kept under constant review to see if any changes are desirable.