§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) why the annnouncement of the line of route of the Dunblane bypass has been delayed; and on how many occasions deadlines set by his Department have been missed since the project was first mooted;
(2) if he will now announce the line of route of the Dunblane bypass;
(3) when he expects to begin construction of the Dunblane bypass.
§ Mr. AncramThe Scottish Development Department has only now received the consultants' draft report on alternative routes for the bypass, and is giving urgent consideration to its conclusions. I hope it will be possible to publish draft orders for the preferred route before the end of 1985.
It was originally expected that the draft orders would be published in the early summer of this year, but this has not proved possible because of difficulties which the consultants met in completing their studies. The progress of the scheme will depend on how quickly the statutory procedures can be completed and on the availability of finance.