LORD PHILLIMOREenquired from His Majesty's Government whether it is the practice of the Government to give the 990WA Central Electricity Board the right to fix the site of their pylons without previous consultation with the highway authorities concerned; and called attention to the refusal of the Central Electricity Board to consider the representations of the Oxfordshire County Council with regard to the siting of the pylons of the Reading-Pangbourne line under the South-East England Electricity Scheme, 1927.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE KIR THE COLONIES (THE EARL OF PLYMOUTH)Under Section 21 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1919, the Minister of Transport, before giving his consent to the placing overhead of any electric line, is required to give the local authorities concerned, and, if any county roads are affected, the County Council, an opportunity to be heard. The position of supports on the approved route is a matter for arrangement with the landowners concerned.
In the case to which the noble Lord particularly refers, two inquiries were held, and, after the consent was issued, certain suggestions for the alteration of tower positions, to meet the requirements of the County Council in connection with certain town planning proposals which were only settled after the Board's line was arranged, were put forward by the Council. It is understood that the Board, owing to the advanced state of their arrangements, at first felt unable to adopt these suggestions, but that they have now arranged to alter the proposed sites for two of their towers, and it is hoped that this will prove a reasonable solution of the difficulty.
House adjourned at five minutes before five o'clock.