Member

Amendment 264A, which was tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Swire, and ably introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, would require Natural England to prepare an EDP covering development consents for overhead power lines under the Electricity Act 1989. Although I cannot help but admire the noble Lord’s ambition—or, as the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, said, his ingenuity—this would place an unmanageable burden on Natural England. In practice, this would require EDPs covering the whole of England, addressing a wide range of environmental considerations. Some power lines may benefit from having an EDP in place, but others may have environmental effects that could not be effectively addressed in this way. If taken forward, this amendment would require Natural England to bring forward potentially ineffective EDPs in order to meet this duty, rather than targeting EDPs where they would be most effective for nature and growth.