§ Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 22 February (WA 104–105), whether they will place in the Library of the House the list of sites which the Government have allowed British Rail to release for sale, comprising:
- (a) the 35 sites on which the board has exchanged contracts prior to the announcement of the suspension of sales;
- (b) the 65–70 sites released on the grounds of urgency; and
- (c) the 40 sites being processed for sale for transport use. [HL1664]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)The list of sites which the Government has permitted the British Railways Board to release for sale has now been placed in the Library of the House. The board has revised the list to include sites where sales had to proceed because they were the subject of compulsory purchase order procedures, to exclude sites where grounds of urgency had been expected to justify continuing the sale but did not materialise, and to exclude sites being processed for sale for transport use where further review of the individual sites has not supported their release on these grounds. The board's revised list comprises:
- — 42 sites on which the board had exchanged contracts or which were the subject of compulsory purchase order procedures prior to announcement of the suspension of sales;
- — 38 sites released on grounds of urgency where failure to complete might have caused significant damage to the purchaser, with the risk of the hoard being sued for negotiating in bad faith, and alter a check that release would not frustrate a potential transport use;
- — 24 sites being processed for sale to local authorities or other bodies for transport use.