Great British Energy Bill

Debate between Lord Roborough and Lord Hamilton of Epsom

Committee stage
Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Can we just return to the Severn barrage? I agree that, 40 years ago, my noble friend was looking at this and that I was looking over his shoulder at the time. The concerns about putting in a barrage on the Severn were mainly about flooding a whole mass of land further upstream. This was in the days when farmers were expected to grow food. It is rather changed now; we expect our farmers to have immense environmental concerns and, in many cases, the whole grant system is skewed towards people having nature reserves on their farms rather than producing food. Surely, if a lot of this land got flooded that would be incredibly encouraging for people who want to encourage wading birds and all the rest of it. I am sure there would be enormous environmental benefits, rather than a downturn in the prosperity of the land which then got flooded by the barrage.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I briefly address Amendment 113 in the name of my noble friend Lord Fuller. I declare my interest in the ownership of salmon fishing rivers.

Proposals that I have seen in the past for energy generated from tidal turbines have tended to be located where currents are strongest. By definition, this is where sea movement is constricted by narrower channels —between islands, between islands and the mainland, in estuaries or on prominent headlands around which currents and tides race. These locations are precisely where the movements of migratory fish species such as salmon and sea trout, as well as saltwater species, will be concentrated. The wild Atlantic salmon is already an IUCN red list species and the greatest of care must be taken with any further risk to the survival of every individual fish, given that the species is so threatened.

For these reasons, I strongly support my noble friend’s amendment and those of my noble friend Lord Offord of Garvel, which he and my noble friend Lord Howell of Guildford have spoken to very convincingly. I urge the Minister to take these concerns seriously and consider incorporating environmental protections in this Bill.