§ THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES (THE EARL OF LISTOWEL)My Lords, Private Bill Standing Order 91 provides that the Chairman of Committees may direct the attention of the House to any special circumstances relevant to any Private Bill which may appear to him to require it. The North Wales Hydro-Electric Power Bill (I apologise to your Lordships for the mistake in the Title of the Bill as printed on the Order Paper) confers on the Central Electricity Generating Board powers for the construction of a generating station and works in the County of Carmarthen and the acquisition of land for that purpose. There were four Petitions against the Bill in the other place, but there is none in this House. I have, however, received a letter from the North Wales Hydro Electricity Protection Committee, who petitioned in the other place, to the effect that in their opinion there remain issues which go to the heart of the Bill and are still unresolved, and that it is only the absence of sufficient funds which prevents the Committee from depositing a petition against the Bill in this House.
I thought it my duty to inform the House of these facts before the Second Reading of the Bill, which is down for next Thursday. These, in my opinion, are special circumstances which noble Lords may wish to take into account before the Second Reading.