HC Deb 28 November 1988 vol 142 cc167-8W
17. Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects work to start on a second Severn bridge; and when he estimates it will be completed.

Mr. Channon

We are on course to provide the bridge by the mid-1990s, if traffic justifies that. The private sector will be given the opportunity to fund the bridge. Promoters will be asked to indicate possible completion dates and the toll levels associated with them.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many objections he has received to his proposal to increase tolls on the Severn bridge from(a) Gwent, (b) Wales and (c) England.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

We have received 86 objections from persons living in Gwent, 15 from other parts of Wales, 26 from England and four from national organisations.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport why he chose Bristol as the location of the inquiry into the proposed increase of tolls on the Severn bridge in preference to a location in Wales.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Experience with previous inquiries has shown that the Bristol area is a convenient location.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many objections he received to his previous proposal to increase tolls on the Severn bridge from(a) Gwent, (b) Wales and (c) England; and how many from each area gave (i) oral and (ii) written evidence to the previous inquiry.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Of the objections received to the previous proposals to increase tolls at the Severn bridge, 36 were from Gwent, seven from other areas in Wales, and 37 from England. A further seven were from national organisations.

The number of persons from each area who gave evidence to the 1984 inquiry was as follows:

Gwent Other areas in Wales England National Organisaion
(i) Oral 10 7 6 10
(ii) Written 3 4 5 9

Six members of the Department of Transport also gave evidence.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the latest traffic counts for all transport modes crossing the Severn bridge and the percentage of the journeys that originate from:(a) Bristol, (b) west of England, (c) Gwent and (d) Wales.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

The annual average daily flow of traffic over the Severn crossing for the 12 months ending 31 October 1988 was 46,912. Heavy goods vehicles accounted for about 17 per cent., light goods 7 per cent. and buses and coaches 1 per cent. The approximate percentage of westbound journeys originating in Bristol and Avon is 53 per cent. and from the rest of south-west England 10 per cent. The approximate percentage of eastbound journeys orginating in Gwent is 30 per cent. and from the rest of Wales 62 per cent.