HL Deb 29 April 1999 vol 600 cc62-3WA
Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

In respect of land in British Rail ownership, and further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 12 April (WA 98) and the Answer by the Lord Whitty on 12 April (H. L. Deb., cols.500 and 501):

  1. (a) whether they will list the "key players in the industry" with which the British Railways Board was required to consult on the disposal of its land holdings before reporting to the Government (as referred to in the White Paper on Transport, July 1998, Cm 3950, paragraph 4.35);
  2. (b) what are the criteria used by the board in deciding which sites would be appropriate for transport use;
  3. (c) what forecast of rail passenger and freight traffic growth was used in establishing the criteria; and
  4. (d) whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the board's report, including a list of all sites not already disposed of, divided into those considered by the board to be suitable for transport use and those not considered suitable. [HL2040]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)

Further to my Written Answer of 12 April, I can advise as follows:

  1. (a) the BR Board wrote to a large number of transport operators, local authority groups and other interested parties inviting their comments on the criteria to be used to determine which of their property holdings had transport potential;
  2. (b) the board proposes that the assessment of transport potential should pay particular attention to: large sites available for intermodal/other freight terminals; land adjacent to existing passenger stations which might be used for improved access, interchange facilities and car parking; land already identified by transport operators and local WA63 authorities as having a specific transport use in the foreseeable future; land adjacent to already identified pinch-points on the network; and land for which the infrastructure for the former transport use remains in situ;
  3. (c) traffic forecasts were not used as the board was not trying to second-guess demand but to establish where sites have physical potential for transport purposes;
  4. (d) Ministers are still considering the board's review of its property portfolio.