§ Mr. Muddasked the Minister of Aviation Supply if he will make a statement on the nature of the survey into the effects of Concorde on the public now being conducted by his Department and arrange for a copy of the survey questions to be published in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. CorfieldThe survey is being conducted by questioning random samples of people living within the areas affected by Concorde's boom. Control groups from outside these areas are also being questioned. The survey is intended to investigate public reactions to Concorde in general and to the sonic boom in particular.
The survey questionnaire is too lengthy for inclusion in the OFFICIAL REPORT. 4W But I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the House of Commons Library.
§ Mr. Muddasked the Minister of Aviation Supply what technical reports he has received on the effects of high overpressure sonic booms on people, buildings and animals, respectively, during Concorde supersonic tests so far completed.
§ Mr. CorfieldI am kept regularly informed by the appropriate specialists of the effects of Concorde's boom on people, buildings and animals. Those submitting reports include specialists at the Royal Aircraft Establishment and at Universities under contract to my Department and observers in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the Department of Health and Social Security.
§ Mr. Muddasked the Minister of Aviation Supply to what extent the scientific readings taken in Truro Cathedral are relevant to other persons or fabrics not directly in the same related position to Concorde as the instruments used.
§ Mr. CorfieldEach individual boom is unique, but measurements of the effect of a series of Concorde booms on particular buildings, including Truro Cathedral, can be used to assess the effect on buildings generally.