§ 87. Mr. James Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking upon the recommendations of the working party he set up upon the problems of parking goods vehicles in the North-West; and whether he will make a statement with particular reference to the provision of lorry parks by local authorities in partnership with commercial interests on the lines suggested at Stretford.
§ Mr. Redmondasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is now able to make a statement on his intentions regarding the recommendations of his Department's working party on lorry parking.
§ Mr. PeytonAfter consultation with the industry and the local authority associations, the Government fully 109W support the strategy proposed in the Report. It is now launching a programme to locate and buy a sufficient number of sites, for leasing to commercial operators, so as to provide a national network of lorry parks in England outside London. Regional study groups on the lines envisaged in the Report are already being set up to establish the best sites.
As far as the financial arrangements are concerned, instead of making grants to local authorities for land acquisition, I intend that the land should be provided under the powers of Section 30 of the Highways Act, 1971. It is the Government's intention that, once the lorry parks are firmly established, the land should be sold to the operators.
The question of quality licensing of the lorry parks, which becomes important only when they come into operation, requires further study and, possibly, legislation at some future time.