§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to respond to the request for the minutes to be made public of the meeting on 26 June 1991 at the Welsh Office, Cathyas Park building between his groundwater consultant and representatives of Cardiff Residents Against the Barrage.
§ Mr. David HuntI have already responded to the hon. Gentleman in my letter of 18 November indicating that no formal minutes of the meeting were kept for external circulation. That letter also offered a response on any specific query.
§ Mr. Gwylim JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are his latest estimates of the investment by the Exchequer and by the free enterprise sector that has already been made and will be made in the future into the Cardiff bay barrage and the regeneration of south Cardiff; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David HuntGovernment grant in aid to Cardiff Bay development corporation between April 1987 and March 1991 was £92.4 million, of which £43.8 million was for land acquisition. The subsequent sale of this land as fully serviced sites will realise far more than £43.8 million, thus reducing the total public sector input. A further £32.3 million is being made available this year. Total private sector investment under way or firmly committed between April 1987 and March 1991 was over £250 million.
The planning update and economic appraisal statement, prepared in January 1990, estimated that the total cost to the public sector of a development strategy including a barrage would be £335 million over a 15 or 20-year period. It also estimated that, over the same period, private sector investment would be nearly £1,600 million.