Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their decision to endorse the site at Moorside in West Cumbria for the construction of a new nuclear power station, what action they are taking to ensure that any consequent or related infrastructure, including that proposed by National Grid, fully complies with the law and with the undertakings of the government that landscapes designated as of the highest quality, including the landscapes of the National Park, should be protected and not damaged by electricity infrastructure development.

Moorside is one of the eight sites listed as potentially suitable for the construction of new nuclear power stations in the Nuclear National Policy Statement published in 2011. In the event of an application for development consent being made, the Nuclear National Policy Statement sets out how the Planning Inspectorate should consider impacts, including at section 3.10, landscape and visual impacts, before making a recommendation to the Secretary of State. Section 2.8 of the National Policy Statement for Electricity Networks Infrastructure makes similar provisions for related Grid developments. The Energy National Policy Statements are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-policy-statements-for-energy-infrastructure