§ Mr. Edgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will approve a planning strategy for the West Midlands 260W conurbation which envisages that the bulk of any population increase shall be accommodated within the conurbation and its margins, and in the new towns of Redditch and Telford.
§ Mr. John SilkinA decision on a regional strategy for the West Midlands as a whole was given by the then Secretary of State in his letter of 11th January 1974 commenting on the West Midlands Planning Authorities' Conference's Report of October 1972, its addendum of October 1973 and a paper on monitoring the strategy. These four documents were published in January 1974 by the West Midlands Planning Authorities' Conference under the title "A Developing Strategy for the West Midlands". The strategy thus approved deals with the location of growth in the region in general terms. The detailed application of the strategy will be tested in structure plans and their subsequent examination which will then come to my right hon Friend for consideration and approval.