§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much compensation has been paid and is expected to be paid to householders following the widening of the M25 between junctions 8 and 9. [112543]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 2 March 2000]: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Peter Nutt to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Nutt to Mr. Crispin Blunt, dated 21 March 2000:
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has asked me to reply to your question about the compensation levels paid and expected to be paid following widening of the M25 between junctions 8 and 9.Compensation under part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 is awarded for the effects of the full M25 8–10 widening scheme, which include the provision of road lighting. The estimate of £20M provided last week in reply to your Parliamentary Question 111815 relates to the full 8 – 10 scheme and we do not hold detailed information in the form you require.We are however, able to give an indication only as to the levels of compensation already paid to residents living between junctions 8 and 9. This is in the region of £7.052M paid to around 680 claimants, giving an average settlement so far of some £10,300.Of those, around 500 claimants live near the porous asphalt section between Leatherhead and Ashtead and have received in the region of £5.9M, an average settlement of £11,508 per claim.The compensation still to be paid for the outstanding claims should be in the region of £5.2M. This makes an indicative total in the region of £12.25M for the 8 – 9 section.