§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement clarifying the role of an inspector when presiding over an appeal against a decision by a local planning authority to refuse permission for the construction of an access from a trunk road to a side road in those cases where the authority concerned had been directed by the Department of Transport to refuse such an application.
§ Mr. BaldryThe role of a planning inspector in such circumstances is to visit the site, review all the material considerations made in writing or in person at the public inquiry and produce a report with recommendations on whether the appeal may be allowed, subject to conditions, or dismissed. It is then for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment to decide the appeal in the light of that report.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance about the impact 401W upon businesses is given by his Department to local planning authorities when considering applications to retain accesses to side roads from trunk roads.
§ Mr. BaldryThe Department's planning policy guidance note 13 gives advice on highways considerations in development control, including the question of access to primary routes. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of that note.