SEVERN BARRAGE AND CONSERVATION

That this House welcomes the report by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds which examines the implications of the introduction of a storm surge barrier in Eastern Scheldt in the Netherlands, which caused a major change to tidal range, leading to ongoing erosion and consequent losses of intertidal habitat; and therefore asks the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study group to use this report as the trigger for pursuing alternative strategies to exploit energy from the Severn and to end further investigation of barrage proposals.