§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from(a) English Nature, (b) the Herefordshire nature trust and (c) the Council for the Protection of Rural England regarding the environmental impact of the published route for the A49–465 Hereford bypass; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleAll three bodies submitted written representations concerning the environmental impact of the scheme, in particular on the Lugg meadows site of special scientific interest.
In addition, the Herefordshire nature trust and the CPRE appeared at the public inquiry which opened in 1991. Both these groups put forward alternative routes to that proposed by the Department.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what total area of farmland would suffer from severance under(a) the published route for the A49–465 Hereford bypass and (b) the western alternative route 1C; what proportion of the area in each case would be (i) grade 1, (ii) grade 2 and (iii) grade 3a; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe total area of farmland to be severed is not readily available. MAFF's evidence to the public inquiry gave as the prime reason for their support of the eastern route the view that the western route options traverse more of the best quality land than the eastern options and the former would also result in the isolation of significant pockets of very high quality land inside the western bypass line.
The areas of farmland required for the scheme, in the grades requested are:
Published Route hectares Alternative 1C hectares Grade 1 1.1 5.2 Grade 2 22.6 20.0 Grade 3a 29.2 15.8
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the lengths of(a) the published route 271W for the A49–465 Hereford bypass and (b) the western alternative route 1C; what are the (i) estimated construction costs and (ii) vehicle travelling times for both HGV and other vehicles, of each of the two routes; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe length of the published route is 13.6 km, 8.4 miles. The length of the alternative route 1C is 9.15 km, 5.7 miles.
The estimated construction cost, excluding land, at Q2/1992 prices for the published route is £28.2 million. The cost of alternative route 1C is £21.1 million.
Vehicle travelling times are:
HGVs minutes Other vehicles minutes Published Route 11.10 9.04 Alternative 1C 7.84 6.36 These times are based on speeds for HGVs of 64 kph, 40 mph, on single carriageways and 80 kph, 50 mph, on dual carriageways. Speeds for other vehicles are 80 kph, 50 mph, on single carriageways and 97 kph, 60 mph, on dual carriageways.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the distances and travelling times expected for(a) HGV vehicles and (b) other vehicles starting from a common point on the A49 north and ending at a common point on the A465 south (South Wales) along (i) the inner ring road through Hereford, (ii) the published route for the A49–A465 Hereford bypass and (iii) the western alternative route 1C; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe distances and travelling times are as follows:
Length HGV times (minutes) Other vehicle times (minutes) (i) Inner Ring Road 8.61 km (5.3 m) 11.78 (ii) Published route 14.48 km (9.0 m) 12.13 9.85 (iii) Alternative 1C 8.15 km (5.0 m) 6.91 5.73 Journey times for HGVs on the existing road are not available as surveys were not undertaken. However, in general terms in an urban area these can be expected to be considerably longer than for other vehicles.