Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the hedge at the Houston Road into664W the plant testing station was last cut; what record there is of car accidents at this location; and if he will make a statement. [94545]
§ Mr. George HowarthResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Roads Service under its Chief Executive, Mr. C. James. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from G. P. Fraser to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 25 October 1999:
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked our Chief Executive to respond to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question about hedge cutting at the entrance to the Plant Testing Station at Houston Road, Castlereagh, Belfast and car accident records at this location. In the absence of our Chief Executive, I am replying.The cutting of roadside hedges is the responsibility of relevant landowners and, in this particular case, responsibility falls to the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, which owns the Plant Testing Station. Colleagues from that Department have advised me that the hedges around the Plant Testing Station are cut annually and that they were last cut in November 1998.You also asked what record there is of car accidents at this location. The RUC has advised that its records indicate that there has been one "damage only" accident at the junction of Houston Road and Knockbracken Road during the last 12 months.I hope you find this information helpful.