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9 Dec 2002 : Column 28W—continued
TRANSPORT
A12/Colchester Northern Approach Road Junction
Bob Russell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when a decision will be made to approve a junction between the A12 and the Colchester Northern Approach Road; and if he will make a statement. [86515]
Mr. Jamieson: The principle of a junction between the A12 and the Colchester Northern Approach Road has been agreed for some time, but the Highways Agency is not yet able to fully assess the impact of the proposed new junction on the safety and operation of the A12. Despite several meetings and requests, a number of issues remain outstanding with the developer. No decision can be made until the Highways Agency is in possession of all necessary information to determine the application.
Air Transport
Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give an early response to the Midlands section of the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport. [85736]
Mr. Jamieson: This is a national consultation and decisions taken in one area will have an effect on decisions for other parts of the UK. Therefore, we will make our decisions in the Air Transport White Paper, based on consideration of all responses received across the UK, once the extended consultation period has finished.
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Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if it is his policy that before any option for Birmingham Airport is included in the White Paper, he will satisfy himself that the shareholders have sufficient funds available to fund the option stated in the White Paper. [85863]
Mr. Jamieson: Options included in the Air Transport White Paper will form a strategic framework for air transport in the UK for the next 30 years. We will wish to assure ourselves, as far as foreseeable, that preferred options have a reasonable prospect of being financially deliverable.
Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the Air Transport Consultation Process, whether the 30 year economic appraisal for the second runway at Birmingham Airport will commence in the year following completion. [85864]
Mr. Jamieson: The benefit stream for Birmingham International airport, with an additional second runway, has been estimated from the year following completion. The economic performance will vary depending upon the year of opening.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many aircraft departed from (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick and (c) Stansted airports in each month since December 2000, broken down by aircraft type; and which are exempt from noise limit standards announced on 18 December 2000. [86105]
Mr. Jamieson: 22 individual aircraft, which were given specific exemptions from the Chapter 2 phase out provisions in the EC Directive 92/14, were also given exemptions from the new daytime noise limit (94dBA Lmax) announced on 18 December 2000 and introduced on 25 February 2001. The exemptions applied until 31 March 2002.
During this period the actual number of departures by relevant aircraft was as follows:
- Heathrow Nil
Gatwick Two (both in January 2002)
Stansted Two (one in March 2001, one in January 2002)
Bob Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that a Minister from his Department attends a public meeting on Canvey Island, organised by the hon. Member for Castle Point, to discuss the Government's Cliffe Airport option. [86522]
Mr. Jamieson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced to Parliament on 28 November 2002, Official Report, columns 474–75, that the consultation on airports capacity will be kept open until we have consulted on options for new runways in relation to Gatwick.
We will set out our plans for the remaining stage of the consultation process when we publish the further consultation paper in the new year.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many responses had been received by 30 November in response to (a) the consultation
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document, Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: A National Consultation and (b) each of the regional consultation documents on the Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom (i) in total and (ii) for each region; [85209]
- (2) how many copies of the (a) main document and (b) summary of the (i) national and (ii) regional consultation documents on Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom have been issued in hard copy as a result of each exhibition which has taken place to promote the consultation as of 30 November; [85211]
(3) how many copies of the (a) main document and (b) summary of the consultation documents (i) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: A National Consultation, (ii) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: North of England, (iii) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South West, (iv) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Midlands, (v) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Wales and (vi) Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East have been (A) issued in hard copy and (B) downloaded from the website by 30 November; [85208]
(4) what the cost to his Department has been of (a) the exhibitions promoting the consultation documents on the Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom and (b) the printing costs relating to the publication of the consultation documents as of 30 November. [85210]
Mr. Jamieson: As at 30 November a total of over 118,000 main and over 180,000 summary consultation documents had been issued. A breakdown by area for both hard copy and website downloads is given as follows. The figures include consultation documents distributed at public exhibitions across the country. A breakdown of the numbers issued at individual exhibitions is not available.
| Hard copy | Website downloads | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Main | Summary | Main | Summary |
| North of England | 13,005 | 48,343 | 14,382 | 7,954 |
| South West | 5,366 | 13,876 | 8,977 | 8,869 |
| Midlands | 35,297 | 45,696 | 8,767 | 10,484 |
| Wales | 4,135 | 5,453 | 2,872 | 2,244 |
| South East | 50,590 | 49, 399 | 67,299 | 73,878 |
| Northern Ireland | 4,317 | 8,982 | 3,083 | 2,286 |
| Scotland | 5,810 | 11,642 | 11,499 | 17,531 |
| Total | 118,520 | 183,391 | 116,879 | 123,246 |
To date, nationally, over 30,000 completed NOP questionnaires and around 31,000 letters responding to the consultations have been received. Additionally, around 2,000 responses have been received via the dedicated website. Very large numbers of responses are arriving and we do not yet have accurate numbers broken down by region.
As part of the consultation there have been 17 exhibitions which cost approximately #929,000. The cost of producing the seven detailed consultation documents and seven summary documents was #609,000.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced to Parliament on 28 November 2002, Official Report, columns 474–75, the consultation on airports capacity will be kept open until we have consulted on options for new runways in relation to Gatwick. We will publish a further consultation document in the new year.
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Channel Tunnel Links
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of private investment in the Thames Gateway area in advance of the completion and opening of the section of the High Speed Channel Tunnel Link between the Tunnel entrance and Fawkham Junction; what the level of investment was in each case, and what investment is anticipated for future years. [86111]
Mr. Jamieson: My Department's value for money assessment of the 1998 deal to secure construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link included an assessment of the regeneration benefits of the project. The main private investment impacts of the Link for the Thames Gateway area were anticipated to be associated with Ebbsfleet station. Details of the assessment are reported in the Public Accounts Committee, Twenty-Second Report, Session 2001–02, Appendix 2.
Cliffe Airport
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Answers of 2 December, Official Report, column 498W, on the Cliffe Airport Option, how he identified suitable venues for the exhibitions (a) in relation to proximity to the airport option and affected areas, (b) venue capacity, (c) accessibility and (d) availability; and in each case how many and which other alternative locations were considered. [85629]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 5 December 2002]: Specialist consultants in event management were commissioned to identify suitable venues and to organise the public exhibitions on the airport options.
Using a database of potential venues in the region, they were able to recommend the most suitable venue for each airport exhibition taking account of the listed criteria.
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