§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what sites other than existing airports his Department has in the south-east for airport development. [18452]
§ Mr. NorrisThe Department of Transport does not itself hold any sites for airport development in the south-east, or elsewhere in the country.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the development of(a) the Lydd and (b) the Manston sites as additional airport capacity in the south-east. [18446]
§ Mr. NorrisFollowing identification by the Civil Aviation Authority as potential sites for development in air traffic control terms, Lydd and Manston were two of the sites considered by the working group on runway capacity to serve the south-east. RUCATSE concluded that neither Lydd nor Manston would be suitable as sites for providing additional runaway capacity to serve the south-east and should not be subject to detailed assessment.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what additional work his Department has undertaken in relation to potential development of Heathrow and Gatwick airports following the publication of the RUCATSE report. [18453]
§ Mr. NorrisThe Government's response to the RUCATSE report, announced on 2 February 1995, said that the Secretary of State was asking the CAA, in conjunction with the British Airports Authority and others, to carry out further work to examine the gains that might be achieved and the environmental impact involved in making better use of existing runway infrastructure at Heathrow. He also invited BAA to investigate the possibility of less environmentally damaging options for runway development, such as a close parallel runway at Gatwick. In addition, I chair the steering group for the London airports surface access study, which is examining the opportunities for improvements in access to and between London's main airports by rail and through traffic management measures.