Should There be a Barrage Across the River Severn
to Generate Electricity?
April 2007
I have recently undertaken a consultation among my
constituents on the issue of using the River Severn as a source of
power generation. The question asked was:
“Do you support, in principle, the idea of a barrage across the
Severn in order to generate electricity?”
The result of the vote was:
YES: 1264 votes (85.2%)
NO: 219 votes (14.8%)
There was overwhelming support for the
principle of taking further the idea of a Severn Barrage.
The main arguments given in favour were:
* the importance
of urgent action being taken to meet CO2 targets;
* the
utilisation of a natural and renewable resource, securing energy
supplies;
* creating the
barrage would produce long term benefits, whilst being reasonably
environmentally friendly;
* the project
would produce many jobs;
* the benefits
of the project far outweigh the disadvantages.
Among the much smaller number who opposed the idea, the main
arguments given against were:
* damage to the
wildlife and environment in the surrounding area;
* the
construction and running costs would be too high and could potentially
result in more money being spent than initially thought;
* nuclear
power is favourable as more effective and ‘green’;
* we should be
attempting to find alternative forms of energy that do not result in the
damage of the environment.
The results show a clear support in principle for the building of a
Severn Barrage. However, it would be fair to
say that among those who voted ‘yes’ to the question,
there were a number of replies supporting tidal lagoons or other
technologies rather than a complete barrage.
The priority must therefore be for a full and updated assessment to be
carried out of the viability of a scheme for
tidal power from the Severn, including the different variants
that have been proposed. This would need to look at how much
power could be generated by the different
options, as well as the economic and environmental costs
and benefits of the different approaches.
I am pleased to say that I was also able to secure a debate at
Westminster on this very issue and used that
opportunity to press the Government to move
ahead rapidly with a serious appraisal of the options so that
some progress can at last be made.
Click here to read the debate.
Click here for more
information on the Severn Barrage proposals
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