§ Lawrie QuinnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will announce his decisions on the applications to extend the Heathrow Express and the Piccadilly Line to the proposed fifth terminal at Heathrow Airport; and if he will make a statement. [46934]
§ Mr. ByersWhen I gave approval on 20 November last to the building of a fifth terminal at Heathrow, I said that I shared the inquiry Inspector's view on the importance of these two proposed railway extensions to the case for approving the new terminal. I therefore imposed conditions requiring two railway extensions to be provided before the core terminal building is opened. I also said that I was minded to make the necessary Orders under the Transport and Works Act (TWA) authorising the proposed railway extensions, and to grant planning permission for this development.
I was, however, unable at that stage to grant the necessary approvals for the railway works. This was because I wished to attach planning conditions giving satisfactory control over the railway development, but these conditions had not been discussed at the inquiry. I therefore set out in my November letter the conditions I was minded to impose and invited comments. I have subsequently received comments from interested parties which have shown a good measure of agreement for the conditions I proposed, and which have helped me to finalise their wording.
I have therefore now decided to make the TWA Orders and to give planning approval for the Heathrow Express and Piccadilly Line extensions. Copies of both decision letters, which include the full sets of conditions for these works, have been placed in the Library of the House.