HL Deb 16 March 1999 vol 598 c96WA
Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 22 February (WA 104–105), which sites they have permitted the British Railways Board to continue to sell, in contravention of the commitment given in the Transport White Paper July 1998, in the following categories:

  1. (a) sites for transport purposes, road, rail and other
  2. (b) sites for development where the developer has obtained planning permission and is in a hurry. [HL1325]

Lord Whitty

Consistent with the Transport White Paper of July 1998 and the Parliamentary Answers of 31 July (HC Deb.,WA 640–641) and 22 February (WA 104–105), the British Railways Board, having conducted a review of its property portfolio and pending the Government's decision on the generality of this, has received the Government's permission to release the following:

some 35 sites on which the Board had exchanged contracts prior to announcement of the suspension of sales;

some 65–70 sites released on grounds of urgency where failure to complete might have caused significant damage to the purchaser, with the risk of the Board being sued for negotiating in bad faith, and after a check that release would not frustrate a potential transport use;

some 40 sites being processed for sale to local authorities or other bodies for transport use.