§ 51. Viscount WOLMERasked the Undersecretary to the Board of Trade whether he can see his way to give some indication to the Newton-in-Makerfield Urban District Council as to what conditions they "will have to fulfil before they can obtain an Order from the Board of Trade to proceed with their scheme for generating and supplying electricity locally, in view of the fact that the site upon which they intend to erect their plant may not be available next Session, and that the various large firms in the district will in all probability by that time have been forced to make other arrangements?
§ Mr. J. M. ROBERTSONIf the council make a further application for an Order it will be necessary for them to satisfy the Board of Trade that there is a reasonable prospect of there being a sufficient number of consumers to render it unlikely that any serious burden will be imposed upon the rates. I may remind the Noble Lord that the former Order, which was granted to the district council in 1903, was revoked in 1909, as the council took no steps to give effect to it, the reason presumably being that there was no general demand for a supply. The Board do not consider that the success of an electricity undertaking should be dependent upon the custom of two or three large power users.