THERE have been a number of articles and letters in the Gazette commenting on the plans to build a barrage across Morecambe Bay after the recent talk at Kendal Town Hall.

The proponents and opponents of the scheme would be well advised to read the report in 2012 by the House of Commons Committee on the detailed proposal to build a similar barrage across the Severn Estuary (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmenergy/194/19402.htm)

The financial and construction sections are damming in their criticisms. Basically it says "we don’t believe your costings or the environmental claims and the Treasury won’t authorize anything with a 100-year-plus payback. We should look at much smaller schemes first".

Subsequently we’ve had similar failed initiatives to build lagoons at Swansea and schemes across the Solway. The French barrage at La Rance was built by EDF in 1966 and has been fraught with environmental issues. Almost no large schemes have been built anywhere in the world since.

There are cheaper, less risky ways of generating electricity and enhancing road links. Nothing has changed from the Severn Estuary proposal. It’s the same idea other than a road to link Barrow - cheaper to upgrade the A590 and A595.

To generate base load electricity, the proponents of this scheme suggested two large barrages in the UK with different tidal times. The probability of building one barrage across Morecambe Bay is almost zero. The probability of building two (Morecambe and Severn) to get base load power is close to absolute zero.

Methinks the environmental pressure groups can keep calm and carry on!

Bob Swindle

Kendal