§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what indications he has received from the British Airports Authority of the minimum acreage of land it requires for a two-runway airport at Maplin; and what acreage he has reserved for airport purposes in the first and second stages of his scheme of reclamation.
§ Mr. RipponThe indications I have received from the British Airports Authority are for optimum areas, not minima. Within the total reclamation area, the acreage reserved for the first stage airport is about 6,400 acres net and for the second stage airport about 3,200 acres net. The definition of areas and of stages will be settled between the British Airports Authority and the Maplin Development Authority as detailed planning proceeds.
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§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what industries and other occupations he expects to be transferred to the proposed new town serving Maplin airport; from what areas of the country he expects them to come; and where he would expect them to be located if the town was not built
§ Mr. RipponThe main source of employment for the Maplin new town will be the airport itself. In addition there will be ancillary activities such as hotels and freight forwarding enterprises, and firms supplying goods and services to the airport—for example, catering and cleaning.
Firms wishing to move to the new town would be subject to the Government's controls on the distribution of industry and the location of offices in force at the time. It could be expected that many of the firms induced to move would come from congested areas, mainly from London.
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment on what dates he received the preliminary and final reports, respectively, of the consultants he appointed to consider road and rail links with the proposed Maplin development; and when he intends to publish the consultative document on road and rail links.
§ Mr. RipponThe consultants have made their findings known in a number of papers and briefings. These have provided information for the consultative document which I intend to publish very soon.