§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Minister of Transport what is his current policy in relation to permission for hotels to be located on trunk roads in the Brownhills area; and how this policy has altered since he took over responsibility for such matters.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeUnder the General Development Order, my right. hon. Friend has powers to direct refusal or impose conditions in relation to any planning application within 67 metres of a trunk road. Our policy is to consider all applications on their merits and we would not normally direct refusal unless there were overriding traffic or safety grounds for doing so.
We have recently introduced by administrative action a relaxation of controls over certain minor categories of development alongside trunk roads to reduce delays and cut out unnecessary work in development applications. We are considering further relaxations.