§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of land acquisition consequential upon the Birmingham northern relief road with particular reference to(a) land purchased to date, (b) the identity of the purchaser and current owner and (c) the amount of land still needing to be purchased.
§ Mr. KeyThe Department has so far purchased 59 properties under the blight provisions since the original road proposals were announced in 1984; a further 16 are in the process of acquisition. The properties will remain in the department's ownership until they are taken for the road scheme or can be declared surplus and sold.
The compulsory purchase orders will be published this autumn and the total land required for the scheme is 596 hectares, of which 482 hectares are agricultural land.
The land already purchased in advance of the compulsory purchase orders (under the blight provisions) does not all fall within the boundaries of the land required for the scheme. Therefore, it would be disproportionately expensive to calculate the exact amount of land still required.