§ Mr. BendallTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on the millennium exhibition. [10477]
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyAt its meeting on 11 December, the Millennium Commission confirmed its decision to proceed with the national exhibition at Greenwich in the year 2000. The commission is now finalising the means by which the exhibition will be delivered within an acceptable budget.
Good progress has also been made on a number of other fronts: the planning application was submitted to the London borough of Greenwich as planned on 31 October and a decision is expected by the end of January. The Highways Agency announced on 15 November that the last two contracts for the M11-A12 link road have been awarded: the road will be completed in 1999 and will enable optimum use of the park-and-ride facilities planned for the exhibition. Work on the Jubilee line extension, which will provide easy access by underground from central London into the centre of the exhibition site, is progressing well, with the new line scheduled to open in 1998. On 22 November, English Partnerships announced that it had agreed terms with British Gas to acquire the Greenwich peninsula. Meanwhile, statutory decontamination works by British Gas are well under way.