asked the Secretary of State for Transport what representations have been received from the Okehampton town council, West Devon district council, Cornwall county council and Devon county council regarding the Okehampton bypass.

All these authorities have written or made representations to us supporting the Department's proposed route for the bypass and/or deploring the report of the joint committee against it.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will indicate the number of acres of the Dartmoor national park to the north of the proposed Okehampton bypass and the number to the south.

Dartmoor national park is some 233,600 acres in all. The Department's proposed route would take about 140 acres on the very northern edge of the national park; its alignment would leave undisturbed about 233,000 acres, or over 99 per cent., to the south of the route and some 460 acres to the north.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will indicate the length of the public inquiry that took place into the Okehampton bypass and its cost to public funds.

The public inquiry started on 1 May 1979 and finished on 4 February 1980. The total number of sitting days was 96. The cost of providing a hall, furniture and equipment and the expenses of the inspector was about £70,000. This excludes the Department's costs and the costs of other parties at the inquiry.