§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how much compensation the National Grid Company will pay to landowners on whose land trees must be felled or lopped along the proposed route of pylons from Lackenby to Shipton; [128369]
(2) what discussions he has had with the National Grid Company on the felling and lopping of trees along the route of the proposed pylons from Lackenby via Picton to Shipton by Bellingborough; and if he will make a statement; [128368]
(3) what (a) notification and (b) information he has received from the National Grid Company of the specific location of trees to be felled or lopped along the proposed route of pylons from Lackenby to Shipton; [128370]
(4) what consultations the National Grid Company has held with the affected landowners who will be subject to trees being felled or lopped along the proposed pylons route from Lackenby to Shipton. [128367]
§ Mrs. LiddellOn 7 December 1999, the National Grid Company applied to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for determination under a planning condition requiring a replacement tree planting scheme to be agreed before the North Yorks power line could be implemented. The Department is currently considering the matter in the light of the views of the Company, the relevant local planning authority and the affected landowners who have responded to the Department's consultation. My right hon. Friend's responsibility is to approve or not approve a tree planting scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to mitigate the impact of the consented development. The question of compensation is not a matter for my right hon. Friend.