It was good to read that the Barrow Council along with the South Lakes and Lancaster City councils are interested in developing Morecambe Bay (Dave Pidduck nwem 9/4/2016. Unfortunately to get support for a project from organisations you have to put the project to them which we have failed to do. We are aware that the Bay is a RAMSAR site and is subject to European environmental laws but so is the Firth of Forth and over 150 other sites around the coast of Great Britain many of whom have been subject to constructional projects. Before the Clackmannanshire Bridge was built over the Firth of Forth an Environment Impact Assessment was carried out including the effects on Salt Marsh, mudflat and estuarine birds, effects on flooding, water quality and tidal movement within the Forth, impacts on sites and areas of historic importance and effects on landowner’s accesses and existing pathways. I am sure that Morecambe Bay would certainly pass all these tests and that if mitigation can be put in place for the Firth of Forth it can also be put in place for Morecambe Bay. To create tidal energy, the tide will still have to come in and go out so the only real long term effect will be a visual one with the view of a magnificent bridge which would be a tourist attraction in its own right. The environmental benefits of this scheme far outweigh the disadvantages. The social and infrastructure benefits, together with the £700million plus pounds already committed by National Grid, with National Banks and insurance companies willing to invest in climate change projects there is no better time to try and achieve an asset that would open up the Furness Peninsular and the whole of the West Coast enabling us to maximise the massive industrial investment that is going to take place over the next thirty years. The reply that I received from the Government on this subject was that they had devolved power to the local authorities “in this case Cumbria and Lancashire County Councils working in partnership with their Local Enterprise Partnerships to identify the right transport solutions that meet with the economic and environmental challenges faced in the area and deliver the greatest benefits. To date, no scheme to provide a transport link across Morecambe Bay has been proposed”. It is obvious therefore that this must be a political and private joint venture and that we must (as we have done with the Marina project) get a scheme into the LEP local plan to take advantage of any opportunities that arise. What have we got to lose?
Alan Pemberton (Councillor Hawcoat Ward)