Planning Bill

moved Amendment No. 27: 27: Clause 5, page 2, line 36, leave out ““may”” and insert ““must”” The noble Lord said: We move to the important business of national policy statements. There is no question but that they are a good idea, but it is important that they do not emerge in areas that are not laid out in Clause 14(6). Hence we decided to table this amendment, which would change the Secretary of State’s duty in this regard. If it were accepted, it would secure and limit the powers of the Secretary of State, who could not dream up another source of national policy at some point in the future. Amendment No. 29 would bring forward the list from Clause 14(6) to Clause 5 to ensure that the national policy statements cover only those areas. Amendment No. 31 is another attempt to prevent mission creep. The Secretary of State should not have an open-ended power. It is better that the intentions are laid out clearly in the Bill from the beginning and that a clear process is established. All the amendments are quietly designed to ensure that the Bill as we pass it remains in the form in which it is passed, assuming of course that we pass it. That has yet to be seen. Amendment No. 51 specifically recognises flood risk in particular locations. One tends to think of flood risk exclusively in the context of rivers that burst their banks, but we need to remember that most of our nuclear power stations are on the coast and are all susceptible to rising sea levels. The thought of a nuclear power station being inundated in half a century’s time, even if it is out of action, is unacceptable. A large load of radioactive material being lapped by the sea would not be tolerable for anyone. We need to think very carefully about that, particularly in view of the potential for the site-specific nature of proposals for nuclear power that have been made. It is fine if the nuclear power station is on the top of a cliff. It is quite another thing if it happens to be, say, Dungeness, which is on the end of a long spit of very low-lying land, all of which is susceptible to rising sea levels. A similar thing could be said about Sizewell and possibly other power stations. Identifying flood risk is important, because precautions will unquestionably be required. That deals with the substance of the amendments. I shall be interested to hear what the Minister has to say. I beg to move.