Ms Helen Southworth (Warrington South, Labour)

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to make my maiden speech on a topic that is so important to my constituents. My constituency, Warrington, South, is the very centre of the north west, both geographically and economically. It is strategically important for business, being sited at the crossroads of the M6 and M62 motorways, midway between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool and on the route of the west coast main line.

Warrington has been significant as a business and commercial centre since the bronze age; then the Romans came along. They recognised a quality site when they saw it and established a boom town on the banks of the Mersey at Wilderspool in Latchford, the site of the original ford. The Roman ships that came up the Mersey with goods for the north-west began a waterways tradition that is still active in Warrington, South, although the waterways now support the leisure and tourism industry.

We in Warrington, South are innovators: the first canal to be built in Britain—the Sankey—runs through Great Sankey in my constituency. With the Mersey, the Bridgewater and the Manchester Ship canal, it is one of four inland waterways that are significant features and monuments to Warrington's contribution to the industrial revolution.

Cromwell planned his civil war campaign in Warrington, South and, more happily, on dreamy afternoons Lewis Carroll found inspiration in the beautiful Cheshire countryside and wrote "Alice in Wonderland". We in Warrington are fond of our association with "Alice in Wonderland" and I have wondered in the past few weeks whether it is that association which has helped me to feel familiar with the rabbit warren that is the Palace of Westminster. I have certainly seen many hon. Members running down the corridors of power and wonder whether perhaps they were saying, "Oh, my ears and whiskers, I'm late." When learning about the more obscure traditions of this House, I have often wanted to say like Alice, "Curiouser and curiouser!" There is one key difference: we do not have to paint the white roses red in this House—the electorate have already done that for us.

Cheshire and Lancashire meet in Warrington, South, which contains the best of both worlds. We value our traditions and look to the future. We work in partnerships—between business, local government, voluntary organisations and neighbourhood groups—in seeking to build our community for the benefit of the many and not of the privileged few. On 2 May, we knew that we had a Government who were forward-looking and who would value local communities and recognise the need to work in partnership. We have a one-nation Government, and we welcome them.

My constituency is formed from parts of the old Warrington, North and Warrington, South constituencies. My constituents are fortunate in having been represented by two determined Members of Parliament who have promoted their best interests and been excellent ambassadors for the town. Part of my constituency—Howley and Whitecross—was in Warrington, North and was represented by Doug Hoyle. Doug is loved and respected by the people of Warrington, for whom he has been an indomitable voice. He is now continuing his work on their behalf in another place, and I wish him well.

My hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Mr. Hall), who is sitting to my right, represented the old constituency of Warrington, South for five years and before that he was an excellent leader of the local council. There has been a steady stream of people telling me how effective a Member of Parliament Mike Hall was, and that he will be a hard act to follow. I look forward to that challenge. Mike was a determined voice for his constituents and I wish him and his constituents in Weaver Vale every success.

Burtonwood air base is important to Warrington, South constituents. Mike has represented their interest and concern over the past few years—indeed, he held an Adjournment debate on the subject on 3 May 1995—and I am taking on that mantle in this debate. The air base is a classic example of the Tory Government's attitude to local people and communities. They refused to consult local people about the future use of a large area of land in the middle of their neighbourhood. Had the Tory Government taken the trouble to ask local people about the future use of Burtonwood, they would have avoided the major problems now facing my constituents.

To describe the area, I have to take the House back to 1942, when RAF Burtonwood was a supply depot receiving goods flown in and shipped over from America. Set in the middle of open countryside on the edge of Warrington, it was serviced by a link from the west coast line. There were few movements on local roads and the site had little impact on surrounding countryside. After the cessation of hostilities in 1945, the base became a long-term storage depot for the United States army. The majority of goods movements still took place by rail, with short vehicle movements in and out of the complex. That remained the position until 1992.

The fact that the site retained the name of RAF Burtonwood reflects the Lancashire fondness for keeping place names sometimes centuries after they have ceased to describe a function. No aeroplanes have used the base for at least 50 years, and throughout the entire period the usage has not represented an intrusion to adjoining residents, given the low level of vehicle movements to and from the site.

While RAF Burtonwood experienced the passage of 50 years with only minor changes, the open fields around saw major planned development. The establishment of Warrington new town meant a period of rapid growth in commercial and, most significant to this debate, residential building. Warrington and Runcorn development corporation and, more recently, the Commission for the New Towns, both of which are agencies of the Department of the Environment, have been directly responsible for the extensive building of high-quality residential homes. They have created a leafy suburb to the north, east and west of the Burtonwood side.

The air base is now completely surrounded by what my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale described in 1995, quoting from a 1987 sales brochure from Fairclough Homes, as: A carefully chosen location with an abundance of trees, bushes and flowers adorning its landscaped gardens and peaceful cul-de-sac approach road, offering a tranquil and idyllic setting for this delightful range of elegant homes". Believe me, that was true.

The Government created that semi-rural setting and my constituents moved in, specifically because it was a quiet suburb in which to bring up their families. They settled into a comfortable village community. Then, on Thursday 21 May 1992, my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale received a letter from the Ministry of Defence, informing him that on the following day at 1 pm, the decision to close RAF Burtonwood by summer 1993 would be announced. That announcement was the beginning of radical and unpleasant change for my constituents—change initiated and carried out by the Tory Government. It took place without consultation, and it has resulted in major problems because of inappropriate use of the site.

In his previous incarnation as Member for Warrington, South, my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale said: Without consulting local Members of Parliament, Warrington borough council's planning authority or local residents, the MOD unilaterally decided to let the air base as a storage depot for heavy goods vehicles and trailers. It made that decision overnight" —[Official Report, 3 May 1995; Vol. 259, c. 297.] That decision has had a radical impact on the quality of life of my constituents, with hundreds of heavy goods vehicles travelling through residential roads at all hours of the day and night.

Two public inquiries have been held, which considered applications for goods vehicle operators' licences to extend even further the heavy goods vehicle usage of the local residential roads. The statement by the deputy licensing commissioner in his decision of 20 December 1995 gives an impartial view of the unacceptable situation for my constituents. He said: There is considerable adverse environmental effect from noise, fumes, disturbance and visual intrusion occasioned to all residents in the vicinity of R.A.F. Burtonwood on the North, South, East and West boundaries caused by the operation of heavy goods vehicles moving to and from R.A.F. Burtonwood and on parking and manoeuvring at the site at all hours of the day and night. This is because the site has been let off at extremely low rental rates by the M.O.D's agents for warehousing storage purposes without any consultation or consideration of the environmental effects of attracting a very large number of H.G.Vs to service the businesses of distributing the goods from the warehouses. For the past four years, local people, Members of Parliament and Warrington borough council have sought a resolution of this problem from an intractable Tory Government, who have ridden roughshod over the local community. In May 1997, my constituents decided that enough was enough—they voted overwhelmingly to show their confidence in new Labour, turning a Tory majority of nearly 3,000 into a Labour majority of 11,807.

Already that confidence is being justified, as the Labour Government introduce a legislative programme to deliver our election pledges to the people: to reduce class sizes, to introduce faster track punishments for persistent young offenders, to cut NHS waiting lists, to get 250,000 under-25-year-olds off benefit and into work and to set tough rules for Government spending and borrowing.

Those are first steps, but already they are making a real difference to the lives of local people. Already my constituents living around RAF Burtonwood find that they are speaking to a Government who know how to listen to, and take account of, local opinion.

Within the past few days, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State has made it clear that the MOD, as landlord of the site, has taken into account the wishes of local people and will not grant approval to Professional Distribution Services (International) Ltd. to park vehicles overnight at RAF Burtonwood, thus ensuring that there is no escalation of HGV activity.

This debate gives me the opportunity to bring to the Minister's attention the long campaign to achieve a satisfactory use for this site and to ask for his support in achieving a resolution.

Once it became clear that the MOD was declaring the site surplus to requirements, the local plan was updated to include a notation for the site which provided for an "urban village" concept, with a mixture of land uses including residential, commercial and open space. RAF Burtonwood is one of three large sites in close proximity which are of strategic importance to the development of Warrington. Each site is managed by a different Government Department or agency. I share with Warrington borough council and local residents the opinion that it would make sense to combine all the public land in the area under a single agency, so that there can be a comprehensive and integrated approach to future development in the area, which can address the concerns and aspirations of residents satisfactorily.

The previous Government failed my constituents when they turned RAF Burtonwood into a commercial storage and distribution depot. With a new Government, we have the opportunity to take a positive way forward, which has been advocated by local people and local elected representatives. With a strategic approach, we can create the urban village that my constituents have good reason to call for, and we can deliver the growth, prosperity and new employment opportunities which the Warrington of the future needs.

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