§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he has received the advice of the Civil Aviation Authority on its studies of airports in central England and the Northern Region; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisI have now received the advice of the Civil Aviation Authority on future airport development in central and northern England together with a paper by the authority on the general development of the United Kingdom airport system.
These papers, which have been published today by the authority with my agreement, are a welcome and important contribution to the development of airports policy following the abandonment of the Maplin airport project. The first stage in the consultation process on the Maplin review and the ways in which future air traffic should be handled, during which my Department consulted 125 local authorities and other bodies, has now been completed. Following this, I propose to publish later this year two comprehensive consultation documents, one covering the London area and the other the regional airports, as the basis for detailed discussions which my Department, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, will be undertaking with the local authorities and other organisations affected by airport developments.
I do not wish to prejudge either the post-Maplin consultation or the discussions likely to be generated by the CAA documents. However, I have noted the authority's rejection of the various proposals for new airports in central and northern England; the suggested concen- 132W tration of the principal air services at a limited number of regional airports; and the importance which is attached to the development of a national airports strategy.