House of Commons
Wednesday 30 October 1996
The House met at half-past Nine o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Windfarms and Telecommunications Towers (Scotland)
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Bates.]
9.34 am
Sir Hector Monro (Dumfries): I am glad to have the opportunity to raise important planning issues in Scotland relative to windfarms and telecommunications towers. I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State is able to be with us. I know that he will give us the Government's view later.
If I were to declare an interest, it would be a deep love of the countryside. At one time, I was a Minister at the Scottish Office with responsibilities for the environment. I was a member of the Nature Conservancy Council and of various governing bodies that are interested in the countryside. I am not, however, involved in any pressure group.
I am concerned about the number of tele-communications towers everywhere in the countryside and the ever-increasing number of windfarms. Both types of structure are serious blots on the countryside and on the landscape generally. I believe that we require stricter controls.
It is no use the Government, who are keen on raising standards in the countryside, producing splendid glossy papers on the countryside, on our coastline, on rural improvements, on environmentally sensitive areas, on scenic areas and special protection areas, for example, if we allow unattractive pylons and generators to spread without the most careful consideration and thought.
Whatever we think of technical achievements, they do not enhance the scenic beauty of Scotland or elsewhere. I shall begin with telecommunications pylons. The masts sprout up almost anywhere without planning permission. I accept, of course, that modern technology is important. We must accept that the world has mobile telephones and other means of quick communication. I accept also that we need a first-class telecommunications system if we are to use such equipment.
Masts are permitted developments stemming from the Telecommunications Act 1984, the subsequent Scottish Office Development Department guidelines--25/85--and the general development order that was introduced in 1992.
Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman (Lancaster):
I accept that telecommunications masts in Scotland and elsewhere
Sir Hector Monro:
I have not really started my diatribe. I appreciate, of course, my hon. Friend's thoughts.
If we were to begin again by taking ourselves back to 1900 instead of living in years near to the year 2000, we would think twice about the distribution of electricity by means of vast pylons, and by smaller pylons as the supply comes nearer and nearer to individual homes. There are a huge number of vast and unattractive pylons. Some were erected during the war. There are some in the valley near my old home, which were erected during the 1940s, when no one really understood what was going on in terms of planning. There is a pylon line right through the centre of the valley floor between Langholm and Hawick, which looks most unattractive. With hindsight, I am sure that we would not allow that to happen now. Much more consideration would be given to placing pylons nearer the hillside and below sight lines wherever possible.
Pylons cause great sadness to those who are interested in scenic beauty, and telegraph poles can be extremely dangerous when placed alongside roads. We know that cars frequently crash into them. If we were able to start again, I am sure that we would put many more heavy electrical cables underground.
There is no requirement to obtain permission from a planning authority before erecting telecommunications masts. I appreciate, of course, that orders and guidelines emphasise that developers must take account of the countryside and, in sensitive areas, must consult local authorities. That is in black and white. It is disappointing, however, when we see what such consultations have produced. It is time to reconsider our flexible and laissez-faire attitude to developers putting up masts wherever they want; if there is a code of practice, it is not effective.
There are masts and pylons all over the place. For obvious technical reasons, they have to be on the tops of hills or ridges, so they are extremely obtrusive; wherever one drives, one sees masts and little blocks of telecommunications structures. The masts can be 15 m high--or 50 ft, as I much prefer to use the old English terms rather than modern European jargon--and, if they are on buildings, the first 30 m is no problem, so there can be a 150 ft building plus a 50 ft tower on top, which means that a mast can be 200 ft high, without authority. That, however, is not my prime concern; I am more concerned about the free-standing towers all over the countryside.
Mr. David Harris (St. Ives):
Only last week, I took up that very point with my hon. Friend the Minister for Construction, Planning and Energy Efficiency, because the problem is widespread and we are now being afflicted by it in Cornwall, where mobile telephone masts are popping up all over the place in exposed positions. My right hon. Friend can rest assured that he has the backing of every hon. Member who represents a rural constituency, from Land's End to John o'Groats.
Sir Hector Monro:
How right my hon. Friend is. Nobody looks after the interests of Cornwall and the Cornish coastline more than he does.
The phenomenon has grown like Topsy, and I expect that my hon. Friend the Minister will say that, with hindsight, we were a little free and easy with the arrangements that we made in the 1980s and that we did not expect quite such a rash of masts. The need to provide the best possible telecommunications for the general public must be balanced against their right to retain their beautiful countryside.
There are many anomalies: I understand from a newspaper article that I can put up a flagpole with a Union flag without authority, but that I would need to have planning authority to erect a flagpole to fly my own flag. If authority is needed to put up a flagpole, why on earth is it not needed to put up a telecommunications tower? Has my hon. Friend the Minister any idea how many masts there are in Scotland? What are we doing about sharing masts? Why should not the companies get together and share masts in the interests of the beauty of the countryside? Each police constabulary has its own system, but might not the police share with the telecommunications companies?
I do not want more bureaucracy, especially in planning--I was once chairman of a planning committee, so I know what it can be like--but I think that in this instance we should have stricter control, with formal approval by each authority. I hope that when my hon. Friend winds up, he will say that the Government are concerned and will investigate the possibilities.
Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley):
We have some masts in the Ribble valley, and they are a blot on the landscape. The argument is that they are not in an area of outstanding natural beauty, but just on the fringes; but even the fringes are beautiful and there should be more sensitivity towards them. We also have masts in towns, and in one instance Vodafone totally ignored public opinion and erected a mast right next door to a housing estate; the public complained, a campaign ensued and eventually we won and the mast was taken down. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the companies have a responsibility not only to consult but to listen to the public?
Sir Hector Monro:
My hon. Friend had a debate on windfarms in the summer, to which I listened with great interest, because I feel about windfarms in Scotland much as he feels about windfarms in England; he is an expert on the subject and presents tremendous first-hand evidence that the Minister will no doubt take into account.
Windfarms are far more intrusive than masts. For obvious reasons, they are often in remote parts and can be seen over a wide area; in my opinion, they are particularly unattractive. I appreciate our policy of sustainable development, which has been developed in the interests of both environment and energy, and our responsibility to Rio in terms of global warming, in the form of the Scottish renewable obligation and the non-fossil fuel obligation in England--we think up the most wonderful names for these agreements--and I do not doubt the arguments in favour of renewables, which must go hand in hand with continued reduction in fossil fuel emissions from our power stations. Perhaps the Minister will touch on the progress that we are making towards that end.
We are making progress, but I want to highlight the balance between alternative fuels and their impact on the countryside. I am not saying that there should be a total
ban on windfarms, but I want stricter planning controls, greater transparency and greater attention to the views of the local people, as my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) said.
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