§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the advertising hoardings on the side of the Witham by-pass on the A12 have been raised in height; and whether they will arrange for a quarterly photographic record to be made of this site in order to detect any interference with the planting on land belonging to the Highways Agency. [HL1353]
§ Lord Macdonald of TradestonThe Highways Agency has not been notified of any change in height to the hoardings on the A12 Witham by-pass. They are aware that some of the hoardings were badly damaged in gales last autumn and were re-erected; any alteration in the height of the hoardings would have required planning permission. Inquiries have been made, and Braintree District Council has confirmed that no such application has been made and it is believed that no significant change was made to the height of the hoardings when reconstructed.
Photographs were taken of the site in November 2002 to compare against those taken in May 2002, and further photographs will be taken in March and May this year, to ensure that the planting is not disturbed during the spring growing season. The site is also visually checked on a weekly basis through routine trunk road inspections.