MINISTER BACKS SEVERN BARRAGE
This is Somerset - 7th April 2007
Government minister Ben Bradshaw has become the latest politician to publicly support plans to build a barrage across the Severn estuary from Brean Down to Lavernock Point in South Wales.
The ambitious proposal for the 10-mile concrete dam, which would produce renewable energy via huge hydro-electric turbines, already has support from the Welsh Assembly and cabinet minister Peter Hain.
Now, Mr Bradshaw, Minister of State for the Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs, has said the Government should be looking to take advantage of the second-highest tidal range in the world.
In an exclusive interview with the Burnham and Highbridge Times, the MP for Exeter said: "If we are going to take our battle against climate change seriously we need to harness all the potential renewable energy both on land and at sea.
"There is no doubt that the Severn barrage, on the second most powerful tidal area in the world, would have the potential to provide us with a significant proportion of our renewable energy needs.
"I would not want to pre-empt what the report by the Sustainable Development Commission might say about tidal power, and the Severn barrage in particular, but I personally think it's a very promising prospect that we are going to have to look at positively."
The Sustainable Development Commission, which is working with the South West Regional Development Agency, has been tasked by the Government to produce a report on tidal power in the UK and part of its mandate is to review the proposals for the Severn barrage.
One such proposal is by the Severn Tidal Power Group, a consortium of engineers from UK companies McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Taylor Woodrow, and Alstom.
STPG representatives were in the House of Commons on March 26 to tell MPs about the benefits of building the barrage which, the group claims, could provide five per cent of the UK's electricity needs.
STPG spokesman Roger Hull said: "The STPG was set up 20 years ago and in 1989 we, along with the Government and the electricity board, carried out a £4 million study into the possibility of building a barrage, but shortly after that the energy industry privatised and nothing has happened in the interim.
"Now that we do not have an electricity excess, the price of fossil fuels has gone up, there is a greater concern for the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and nuclear and coal power stations are closing down. We have to build something, somehow.
"We told MPs that the time has come to think about the barrage again because, as part of the push for renewables, we should update the studies and, as a country, decide if it is good or not.
"We also told the MPs that if planning permission was given, the private sector would be willing to build the barrage."
In February the Burnham and Highbridge Times reported on the ambitious £650 million Severn barrage proposal from Neath businessman Gareth Woodham, which includes plans for 12 man-made islands in the river, which Mr Woodham claims could be valued at up to £25 million each.
But Mr Hull rubbished the Severn Lake project, saying: "The STPG proposal is based on engineering and environmental studies. Mr Woodham, to my knowledge, has no engineering studies or numbers to back him up. Our 1989 proposal might be almost two decades old but it is still sound engineering."
And while there is little doubt about the renewable energy producing potential of building a barrage across the Severn, environmental groups such as Friends Of The Earth have expressed concern about its potential impact on an ecosystem that includes fish, plants and rare birds.
Now, Mr Bradshaw, Minister of State for the Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs, has said the Government should be looking to take advantage of the second-highest tidal range in the world.
In an exclusive interview with the Burnham and Highbridge Times, the MP for Exeter said: "If we are going to take our battle against climate change seriously we need to harness all the potential renewable energy both on land and at sea.
"There is no doubt that the Severn barrage, on the second most powerful tidal area in the world, would have the potential to provide us with a significant proportion of our renewable energy needs.
"I would not want to pre-empt what the report by the Sustainable Development Commission might say about tidal power, and the Severn barrage in particular, but I personally think it's a very promising prospect that we are going to have to look at positively."
The Sustainable Development Commission, which is working with the South West Regional Development Agency, has been tasked by the Government to produce a report on tidal power in the UK and part of its mandate is to review the proposals for the Severn barrage.
One such proposal is by the Severn Tidal Power Group, a consortium of engineers from UK companies McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Taylor Woodrow, and Alstom.
STPG representatives were in the House of Commons on March 26 to tell MPs about the benefits of building the barrage which, the group claims, could provide five per cent of the UK's electricity needs.
STPG spokesman Roger Hull said: "The STPG was set up 20 years ago and in 1989 we, along with the Government and the electricity board, carried out a £4 million study into the possibility of building a barrage, but shortly after that the energy industry privatised and nothing has happened in the interim.
"Now that we do not have an electricity excess, the price of fossil fuels has gone up, there is a greater concern for the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and nuclear and coal power stations are closing down. We have to build something, somehow.
"We told MPs that the time has come to think about the barrage again because, as part of the push for renewables, we should update the studies and, as a country, decide if it is good or not.
"We also told the MPs that if planning permission was given, the private sector would be willing to build the barrage."
In February the Burnham and Highbridge Times reported on the ambitious £650 million Severn barrage proposal from Neath businessman Gareth Woodham, which includes plans for 12 man-made islands in the river, which Mr Woodham claims could be valued at up to £25 million each.
But Mr Hull rubbished the Severn Lake project, saying: "The STPG proposal is based on engineering and environmental studies. Mr Woodham, to my knowledge, has no engineering studies or numbers to back him up. Our 1989 proposal might be almost two decades old but it is still sound engineering."
And while there is little doubt about the renewable energy producing potential of building a barrage across the Severn, environmental groups such as Friends Of The Earth have expressed concern about its potential impact on an ecosystem that includes fish, plants and rare birds.
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