§ Mr. Bradleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when the consultative paper about heavy lorries referred to in his statement on the roads programme on 17th June 1974 will be ready.
§ Mr. MulleyI have today placed in the Library a copy of a consultation paper on "Routes for Heavy Lorries". My Department will be sending it this week to the local authority associations, the police, both sides of the transport industry and others. Although a national system of through routes to which the heavier lorries can be confined cannot be fully introduced until a network of suitable roads is available, planning must start now, and the paper seeks views on the categories of lorries to be controlled, how to control them, and the possibilities of starting the system before the full road network is completed. The effectiveness of the system will depend on the measures adopted by local authorities for the control of lorries within their areas, under the Heavy Goods Vehicles (Controls and Regulations) Act 1973.