§ Mr. DevaTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what consideration he has given to the report of the public inquiry into the construction of power lines from Lackenby, Cleveland, to Shipton, north Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EggarMy right hon. Friend has today given a provisional response to the National Grid Company's applications to install new 400 kv overhead electric lines between Lackenby and Shipton via Picton.
Implementation of the inquiry inspectors' recommendations would enable the National Grid Company to place a new line, mostly above ground, between Lackenby and Shipton. However, the inspectors recommended that consent should not be granted for certain sections where they judged that the environmental impact would be too great.
The recommendations of the inquiry inspectors were, in summary, as follows:
(a) Lackenby to Picton
It was recommended that consent should be refused for the 30 km northern—Portrack—route option, but that it should be granted for the greater part of the 22 km southern route option running south-westwards from Lackenby passing to the east of Middlesbrough. The exceptions are a section of the route south-east of Nunthorpe and a section to the south of Newby.
Installation of the new line would enable 31 km of existing 275 kv overhead line to be dismantled.
(b) Picton to Shipton
Of the three route options, all around 53 km in length and aligned broadly north-south, the inspectors recommended a significant part of the westernmost route passing to the east of Northallerton and Thirsk. However they recommended refusal of that section of the route which would pass through the East Moor site of special scientific interest. From a point some 3 km south of Easingwold, they recommended a switch from the westernmost route to the central route for the remainder of the line to Shipton.
In line with usual practice, my right hon. Friend will not proceed to a decision on whether to grant consent until the company secures the necessary rights to run any new line across land on the recommended route. Consent needs to be obtained from the landowners in question. If consent is not obtained, the company can apply to my right hon. Friend for the necessary right to be granted, but decisions whether or not to grant such rights will not be taken without giving the landowners an opportunity to make representations.
My right hon. Friend has, however, indicated that, in the event that the necessary rights are obtained, then, as he is minded at present, any consents granted by him on the 192W applications for the new line would be likely to follow the inspectors' recommendations as to the route the line should take. He is at present minded to refuse the applications for those routes—or parts of routes—which the inspectors considered should be rejected.
I am placing in the Library of the House copies of the inspectors' report and the letter to the company conveying my right hon. Friend's provisional decision.
§ Mr. DevaTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, how many dwellings lie(a) within 200 m of the proposed new route and (b) within 200 m of lines which are likely to be dismantled if permission is given for the new overhead line in Cleveland and north Yorkshire.
§ Mr. EggarIn relation to the overhead line route for which my right hon. Friend is minded to grant consent, around 100 dwellings lie within 200 m. I understand that more than 4,400 dwellings lie within 200 m of the existing line in the Middlesbrough area, which would be dismantled if the new line is installed.