HL Deb 15 June 1993 vol 546 cc73-4WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

In what areas of the country have regional guidances been published setting out the broad strategic policies for land use and transport and the appropriate transport policy, which the Department of Transport undertook to publish at paragraph 16.16, in their March 1992 response to the standing advisory committee on trunk road assessment report; and in which cases has it been recognised that appraisal is needed to cover the combined and cumulative impacts of several road schemes, so that consideration has been given to longer routes; or relating various schemes together, so as to allow a better choice of alignment and design (paragraph 16.11).

The Earl of Caithness

Regional guidance is provided by the Secretary of State for the Environment to assist local planning authorities in updating their development plans. Guidance was published for East Anglia in July 1991; and draft guidance has been published for the North and East Midlands. The Government aim to publish draft guidance for all regions by the end of 1993 or shortly thereafter. No central list is held of cases where the combined and cumulative impacts of several road schemes have been appraised. As stated in our response to SACTRA, we are increasingly trying to ensure that this strategic approach is followed, where appropriate. However, since schemes in the programme have been initiated and progressed over different timescales, this is not always possible in practice.