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Mr. Bill Olner (Nuneaton): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wonder whether you can advise the House as to whether any hon. Member will speak for the scheme tonight.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Janet Fookes): I am afraid that I cannot anticipate what hon. Members might wish to say.
Mr. Cox: My hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr. Olner) makes an important point. We shall watch closely how many hon. Members go into the Aye Lobby tonight, and I do not think that we or the Tellers shall spend much time counting them.
Mr. Harry Greenway (Ealing, North): I support the strong objections that have been made to the proposal. I am keen for freight to move from road to rail, as I believe the House and the country are, but not in this way. In my constituency, there would be enormous damage to people in their homes, in that they would have trains thundering
past close by, day and night, in a way that would damage unacceptably their health and morale and their way of life, beyond repair. In Greenford, Northolt and especially Perivale, there would be destruction of habitats, in addition to the damage to people in their homes.
Sir Michael Shersby (Uxbridge): Does my hon. Friend realise that there could be not only the five to six trains an hour that Central Railway has mentioned, but as many as 10 trains an hour, if third-party operators are also permitted to use the line?
Mr. Greenway: Yes, I am aware of that, and I am glad that my hon. Friend mentioned it, because it emphasised his opposition to this unwanted, unsatisfactory development.
Many hon. Members want to speak. We all have a duty to represent our constituents' concerns. My constituents expressed their views to me by the thousand, in the form of a petition. Everyone opposed the scheme; no one wrote to me to say that they wanted it. I wish that people could have been informed of their opportunity to write with their objections by 1 July, long before they were given that information. In my constituency, people did not know that they could write and object to the scheme until the middle of June, leaving them with a fortnight. That is unsatisfactory.
Mr. Clive Soley (Hammersmith):
I have received the same petition and complaints as many right hon. and hon. Members who have spoken. I want to add to the debate, because there is no point in repeating much of what has been said, simply repeating what many of our constituents are saying.
This application shows the need to review the Transport and Works Act 1992. It is wrong that a company without any convincing financial ability can propose a scheme by drawing a line on the map without adequate consultation with any of the local authorities concerned, let alone other people, and put that scheme in such a way that it blights people's homes and businesses. In doing so, it will make many people lose money on their homes.
This is no way to plan a major infrastructure scheme. No attention has been paid to the height of bridges or to the need to deal with the infrastructure underneath the roads that the railway will cross. A proposal of this nature will put at risk electricity cables and gas and water mains. The Government cannot justify a system in which a minor company makes proposals without adequate thought and planning, and then expects to get it through on the ground that it can spell out the detail later once Parliament has approved it.
I appeal to the Minister to learn from this lesson. The Act must be amended to ensure that a company--
It being one and a half hours after the commencement of proceedings on the motion, Madam Deputy Speaker put the Question, pursuant to Standing Order No. 14B (Proceedings under an Act or on European Community Documents).
The House divided: Ayes 7, Noes 172.
Tellers for the Ayes:
Tellers for the Noes:
Question accordingly negatived.
AYES
Atkinson, Peter (Hexham)
Deva, Nirj Joseph
French, Douglas
Gill, Christopher
Leigh, Edward
Porter, David (Waveney)
Taylor, Sir Teddy
Mr. Don Foster and
Mr. Robert Hughes.
NOES
Ainger, Nick
Ainsworth, Peter (E Surrey)
Alexander, Richard
Alton, David
Amess, David
Armstrong, Ms Hilary
Arnold, Jacques (Gravesham)
Austin-Walker, John
Banks, Matthew (Southport)
Banks, Tony (Newham NW)
Barnes, Harry
Bayley, Hugh
Beith, A J
Bendall, Vivian
Benton, Joe
Beresford, Sir Paul
Body, Sir Richard
Booth, Hartley
Boswell, Tim
Bottomley, Peter (Eltham)
Boyson, Sir Rhodes
Brown, Nicholas (Newcastle E)
Browning, Mrs Angela
Burden, Richard
Burns, Simon
Butler, Peter
Byers, Stephen
Callaghan, Jim
Campbell, Mrs Anne (C'bridge)
Campbell, Menzies (Fife NE)
Carrington, Matthew
Chidgey, David
Chisholm, Malcolm
Church, Ms Judith
Clapham, Michael
Clarke, Kenneth (Rushcliffe)
Coffey, Ms Ann
Cohen, Harry
Congdon, David
Conway, Derek
Cook, Frank (Stockton N)
Cook, Robin (Livingston)
Corbyn, Jeremy
Cormack, Sir Patrick
Corston, Ms Jean
Couchman, James
Cox, Tom
Davies, Ron (Caerphilly)
Dicks, Terry
Dobson, Frank
Dowd, Jim
Duncan Smith, Iain
Dunn, Bob
Dunwoody, Mrs Gwyneth
Eagle, Ms Angela
Elletson, Harold
Faulds, Andrew
Fenner, Dame Peggy
Flynn, Paul
Foulkes, George
Fyfe, Mrs Maria
Gardiner, Sir George
George, Bruce
Gerrard, Neil
Gillan, Mrs Cheryl
Godman, Dr Norman A
Golding, Mrs Llin
Gordon, Ms Mildred
Greenway, Harry (Ealing N)
Griffiths, Nigel (Edinburgh S)
Gunnell, John
Hall, Mike
Hanley, Jeremy
Harman, Ms Harriet
Hawkins, Nick
Hawksley, Warren
Hill, Keith (Streatham)
Hodge, Ms Margaret
Howard, Michael
Hoyle, Doug
Hughes, Kevin (Doncaster N)
Hutton, John
Jones, Jon Owen (Cardiff C)
Jones, Dr L (B'ham Selly Oak)
Jones, Nigel (Cheltenham)
Khabra, Piara S
Kirkwood, Archy
Knight, Greg (Derby N)
Lait, Mrs Jacqui
Lawrence, Sir Ivan
Lester, Sir Jim (Broxtowe)
Lestor, Miss Joan (Eccles)
Lidington, David
Livingstone, Ken
Lloyd, Tony (Stretf'd)
McCartney, Ian (Makerf'ld)
MacGregor, John
Mackinlay, Andrew
McNamara, Kevin
MacShane, Denis
McWilliam, John
Mahon, Mrs Alice
Maitland, Lady Olga
Marland, Paul
Marshall, Jim (Leicester S)
Marshall, John (Hendon S)
Martin, David (Portsmouth S)
Martlew, Eric
Mayhew, Sir Patrick
Meale, Alan
Mellor, David
Michie, Bill (Shef'ld Heeley)
Mills, Iain
Mitchell, Andrew (Gedling)
Mitchell, Sir David (NW Hants)
Mullin, Chris
Neubert, Sir Michael
Nicholls, Patrick
Norris, Steve
Olner, Bill
Ottaway, Richard
Paice, James
Pawsey, James
Pearson, Ian
Pike, Peter L
Pope, Greg
Prentice, Mrs B (Lewisham E)
Primarolo, Ms Dawn
Quin, Ms Joyce
Rathbone, Tim
Rendel, David
Robinson, Geoffrey (Cov'try NW)
Robinson, Mark (Somerton)
Rooker, Jeff
Rowe, Andrew
Scott, Sir Nicholas
Shaw, David (Dover)
Shephard, Gillian
Shersby, Sir Michael
Short, Ms Clare
Skinner, Dennis
Smith, Chris (Islington S)
Smith, Tim (Beaconsf'ld)
Soley, Clive
Spearing, Nigel
Speed, Sir Keith
Spellar, John
Spink, Dr Robert
Squire, Robin (Hornchurch)
Stanley, Sir John
Sutcliffe, Gerry
Taylor, Ian (Esher)
Taylor, John M (Solihull)
Thomason, Roy
Tipping, Paddy
Tracey, Richard
Tyler, Paul
Vaughan, Sir Gerard
Vaz, Keith
Walden, George
Walker, Bill (N Tayside)
Waller, Gary
Wareing, Robert N
Wells, Bowen
Whitney, Ray
Wicks, Malcolm
Widdecombe, Miss Ann
Wilkinson, John
Williams, Alan W (Carmarthen)
Wise, Mrs Audrey
Wolfson, Mark
Wood, Timothy
Mr. Andrew Robathan and
Mr. Bill Etherington.
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