§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the implications for traffic growth of location of(a) companies and (b) retail outlets on sites adjacent to the M25; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BaldryMy Department has made no detailed assessment in the form suggested.
Planning policy guidance notes 4—Industrial and Commercial Development—6—Town Centres and Retail Developments—and 13—Transport—are all relevant. They seek to encourage new development in locations which minimuse the length and number of trips by vehicles, and protect and enhance the viability and vitality of existing centres—in both urban and rural areas—by offering a range of everyday community, shopping and employment opportunities.
PPG13 also asks local planning authorities to ensure that trunk roads and other through routes, including bypasses, serve their purpose as corridors of movement and do not have their national and strategic role undermined by development which encourages their use for short local trips. The Secretary of State for Transport has the power to direct local planning authorities to refuse applications for planning permission, or to apply specified conditions, and takes the policy in PPG13 into account in deciding whether to do so.