Planning Bill

I have one amendment in this group, which would reduce the limit size for generating stations onshore from 50 minimum to 30 minimum megawatts. It is probably a much better figure, although we can debate those numbers all night and go through all the different statistics. I know that my noble friend has tabled some amendments. It depends on whether one believes that having a lower figure would make it easier to get planning permission through this route than another one. Probably many of the amendments in this grouping reflect that. But I am sure that we can talk about this afterwards, outside the Committee. I have one question for my noble friend on the gas transporter pipelines in the government amendments. It is always important to try to understand what is meant in legislation like this. How do we understand the construction of a pipeline by a gas transporter? A gas transporter to me is something that transports gas; it could be a ship, a lorry or a train. The only way I know of constructing a pipeline is either by digging a trench and welding the bits of pipe together and putting it back in or, occasionally, by something called thrust boring, whereby you can build pipelines under rivers. You start to drill on one side of it and the drill can go round corners and it is quite clever. But I would not have called that drill a gas transporter. When my noble friend comes to wind up on this mammoth number of small amendments, perhaps he will explain what a gas transporter is and how it builds a pipeline.