Oral Answers to Questions

Tessa Munt Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Huhne]

The hon. Gentleman may have read recently about the crash programme to do exactly that in Australia. It resulted in large numbers of builders who were not properly trained putting nails through wires in people’s lofts and setting fire to houses. People died, and it was all over the front pages of the Australian tabloids. The result was that energy efficiency got the most appalling name. I intend that the green deal programme will avoid all those pitfalls and deal with the problem genuinely and thoroughly.

[Tessa Munt (Wells) (LD)]

Will the Secretary of State join me in welcoming the news of National Grid’s announcement yesterday that it will consult residents in the levels and moors in Somerset, Suffolk’s Stour valley and other parts of the country on undergrounding electricity power cables rather than using pylons? Will he congratulate residents on their peaceful and persistent campaign, which will ensure that residents in rural areas benefit from the technology that is taken for granted in urban areas, where undergrounding is standard practice?

[Charles Hendry]

I do indeed congratulate National Grid on undertaking a public consultation on whether the cost of undergrounding is acceptable to the public. I also welcome the research being carried out by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, because people in areas affected by new pylons need to be absolutely convinced of the relative pricing of overgrounding and undergrounding.