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Housing and Regeneration Bill

My name is on the amendment in support of the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay. I had to negotiate with Northern Electric for the removal of pylons and the undergrounding of cables to create a site suitable for family housing on the edge of York. I discovered to my astonishment that is perfectly possible to build right underneath power lines despite the risks that the medical evidence has shown. It means that any other developer—not a social landlord such as Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust—is able to pay a higher price than we in the trust might be able to pay for the same piece of land. We need to create a level playing field in which everyone understands that risks are involved, even if the science does not absolutely prove the connection between those overhead lines and childhood leukaemia. It is an anomaly in the system that it is extremely important to remedy at this stage of the Bill. I appreciate that it is possible that either the Planning Bill or the Energy Bill will take this matter on board, but, wherever it appears, I think that there will be considerable support for an amendment to this effect.