Dunlin
Surfbirds News: RSPB Archives
Ministers should think very carefully before subsidising a Severn Barrage costing in excess of £15 billion, the RSPB has said.
The charity has today reiterated its serious concerns over the possible impact of a Barrage as a two-year study begins into whether the Government should support the scheme.
The study, announced by John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, will seek to answer the question: 'Can the Government support a tidal range power project and if so on what terms?'
Dunlin, internationally important numbers depend on the Severn © Peter Beesley
Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB’s Director of Conservation, said: 'Ministers are right to be cautious about a Severn Barrage. Government is just waking up to the potential problems associated with its bio-fuels policy and so it is only right that it thinks long and hard before committing itself to a barrage.
'Supporting this scheme to the tune of £15 billion would not leave much spare change for alternative projects should it fail to deliver, so the Government has to be sure it is the right place to risk so much taxpayers’ money.'
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