§ Dr. Glynasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether Warren Copse, Berkshire, is included in the current search by consultants for a site for a motorway service area on the M4; if he will list the undertakings given by his Department to the hon. Member for Windsor and Maidenhead on this subject since 1979; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyWarren Copse is not included in the current search by consultants. I apologise for not saying so in my letter of 15 May to my hon. Friend. A letter from the Department's south-east regional office of 14 May to the consultants specifically excluded Warren Copse from the area of the search. That is the correct information. I made a mistake.
The exclusion is in line with undertakings given to my hon. Friend by successive Ministers in the Department of Transport. These assurances include a reply to a parliamentary question by my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Mr. Speed) on 22 January 1973, another answered by my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr. Fowler) on 19 December 1979, and a letter from my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) dated 18 February 1982.