Sittings of the House

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 8 August 1972.

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Photo of Mr David Crouch Mr David Crouch , Canterbury 12:00, 8 August 1972

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, because these are the points which I am seeking to impress on the House.

It is very important to us to have the opportunity to represent our views and those of our constituents to my right hon. Friends the Leader of the House and the Secretary of State and to the whole Cabinet. It is a Cabinet decision, not just a minor decision but a decision of tremendous importance.

When the decision was made nearly a year ago that the airport should not be sited at an in-shore site but should be put out on an off-shore site, it had one merit—that the Government were thinking environmentally, that they were thinking of removing the noise nuisance from people, households, schools, places of work and farms. They were recognising the serious problems of noise produced by an airport, and were putting that noise as far away as possible. I believe that even my hon. Friends in Essex would agree, notwithstanding the nearness of the problem to them, that it was a brave decision to go to Foulness, the Thames Estuary, to an off-shore site.

Whilst I showed some irritation at that decision at the time, I told my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, and made public my view, that I approved the decision fundamentally environmentally. But if we are to have an environmental decision like that backed up all the way, it must be supported by choosing a site which really is out to sea and not one placed on the very shore line and nearest to Kent.

My right hon. Friend and his colleagues in the Department have promised those of us in Kent and Essex that he will keep in close touch with us and listen to our views. I can honestly say that in the last year he has done that. He has afforded us every opportunity to represent our points of view. But I am concerned now that in the last overs of this innings of Parliament we are going in at No. 11 and that all we shall have tomorrow is a chance to make it a draw. In my opinion, we shall not win the battle, but I must warn my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House to convey to the Secretary of State that if we do not get a decision tomorrow that satisfies our real and anxious concern we cannot let the matter rest there. This is a matter of very serious concern, and it is not only a matter for Kent and Essex but a matter for the House of Commons.