§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what were the criteria used to determine that sound-reducing barriers should be erected alongside the A20, Swanley bypass in Kent. [1655]
§ Ms Glenda Jackson[holding answer 2 June 1997]: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mrs. Theresa May, dated 6 June 1997:
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has asked me to reply to your recent question about the criteria used to determine that sound-reducing barriers should be erected alongside the A20 Swanley Bypass.Those barriers were erected under discretionary powers in the Highways Act, in accordance with a policy announced in March 1979 to provide noise barriers alongside trunk roads, subject to the availability of funds and if appropriate, where properties exposed to high noise levels had not benefited from the Noise Insulation Regulations 1975. The barriers at Swanley were provided because they offered an effective shield to a sufficient number of properties exposed to traffic noise at or above the level at which they would have qualified for insulation under the Noise Insulation Regulations and the cost did not exceed the notional cost of providing insulation.I hope this is helpful.