§ Mr. Onslowasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to receive the Report of the Commission on the Third London Airport.
§ Mr. John DaviesI received the Report and Recommendations of the Commission 515W on the Third London Airport today. I must place on record the Government's deep appreciation of the thorough and exhaustive study which the Commission have made.
The Government have decided that this Report should be printed and published at the earliest practicable date. It is a substantial document and publication will take about six to eight weeks.
However, in view of the great public interest in this most important matter, and to avoid speculation, we have decided to make known at once the recommendations and the broad line of reasoning which led to them. I therefore give below the text of a letter from the Chairman, Mr. Justice Roskill, which sets out the Commission's recommendations.
The Commission has, at my request, also prepared, in the form of a Press Release, a summary of some of the main reasons for its recommendations, though it has emphasised that this summary is no substitute for the full appraisal of the evidence contained in the Report. I am arranging for copies of this Press Release to be sent to hon. Members.
The Government intend that decisions on the location and the timing of the construction of the Third London Airport should be taken as soon as possible. The Government will, however, allow adequate time after publication of the full Report for public discussion and for consideration of the views of those concerned before coming to a firm decision. They hope that interested parties will study the full Report before deciding on the nature of any representations they wish to make.
Following is the text:
Dear Secretary of State,
I enclose the report of the Commission on the Third London Airport. You will see that the majority of the members recommends that Cublington should be the site of the Third London Airport, that the first runway of that airport should be brought into operation during 1980 and that planning should start immediately in order to provide the opportunity for an earlier opening date should subsequent events make this desirable. Professor Buchanan, whose note of dissent I enclose, agrees with the second and third of these recommendations but recommends Foulness as the site.
The report of the majority recommends that compensation should be paid in the areas which would be affected by the worst 516W of the noise caused by an airport at Cublington as well as to those whose land will be required for the airport itself.
Yours sincerely,
Sgd. Eustace Roskill.