§ 27. Mr. Palmerasked the Secretary of State for Energy when he will authorise the further studies, recommended by the Select Committee on Science and Technology, on the feasibility of the Severn tidal power scheme, namely (a) the effect on the tidal regime, where there is an urgent need to explain the discrepancies between recent hydrographic research survey work and previous studies, (b) general environmental questions, (c) effect on shipping, Central Electricity Generating Board operations, riparian land usage 407W and water authorities, (d) further studies of the wave regime in the estuary, with references to effects on both the construction of the barrage and to the effects on shipping waiting to pass through the locks in the barrage, and (e) the non-energy benefits directly associated with a barrage.
§ Mr. BennI expect to reply shortly to the Select Committee's recommendations on alternative energy sources. As the House will then see, full consideration has been given to the proposal that a Severn barrage committee be established. Some further work on assembling basic data is already in hand. I also reported to the Energy Commission on 13th February and the transcript is to be published.