§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment at what stage of the planning process his Department is consulted over new bypasses.
§ Mr. YeoIn the cases of trunk road bypasses, the Department of Transport would invariably consult my Department at the earliest stages of developing route proposals.
Where the bypass is a proposal of the local highway authority, it should be subject to the statutory development plan procedures, and shown in the structure and local plan for the area. This is made clear in PPG 12, "Development Plans and Regional Guidance", published on 10 February 1992. My Department must be consulted at each stage in the process leading to the adoption of the plan. The Secretary of State intends to make a direction shortly, to ensure that he is notified of any local highway authority road scheme which has not been subject to local plan procedures, or is in conflict with the development plan.