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Planning Bill

moved Amendment No. 53: 53: Clause 14, page 8, line 11, leave out ““add a new type of project or”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Amendment No. 53 returns us to overarching points of principle because it would remove from Clause 14 the Secretary of State’s ability to amend the list of nationally significant infrastructure projects by, among other things, adding a new type of project. I bring this amendment back because, when I raised the point in Committee, the Minister’s answer was very much about possible future changes in technology. When I read Hansard after the debate, I realised that I should have pursued the matter in Committee because such changes are by no means all that this provision might cover. Any fundamental changes in technology that allow for new projects could give rise to some very important questions that required more than the secondary legislation that would apply to enable the Secretary of State to add to the list. I hope that we do not need to detain the House for very long, but I invite the Minister to expand on his answer on a previous occasion. I have been in touch with his office, so I hope that I am not asking him to do anything unexpected. I beg to move.