Over a lifetime

I HEARTEDLY agree with your correspondents regarding the merits of the Severn Barrage. As usual the do nothing brigade has been vehemently opposed.

The benefits of flood prevention and the low maintenance costs over a lifetime far outweigh the short term disruption to wildlife. With tides expected to rise by 12cm and global temperatures by nearly 2dC by 2030 doing nothing is simply not an option.

Solar and wind driven systems cannot provide the amount of energy needed once our coal and gas-fired power stations are decommissioned. That leaves only nuclear and tide as the only large scale reliable sources of energy for the future.

As for the Severn silting up, I agree it is a challenge but it cannot be beyond the wit of man to deploy the resources of Bristol Port to solving this problem.

It is a great pity our local MP sees fit to sit on the fence as the MP for Bridgwater expresses his full hearted support and cross party consensus gathers momentum.

As for the cost, it is huge but the alternatives are truly frightening. By 2030 the nesting birds could be settling on the Wetlands of Worle as the tide rises inexorably - 15cm is predicted by most experts.

Following the great North Sea floods of 1953 the Dutch built the Zeider Zee, which was a project of similar magnitude. As for the wildlife, birds fly thousands of miles for the summer and are incredibly resourceful. I feel sure they can find other nesting grounds, for example around La Rance. Ecology is richer and more diverse there than before their barrage was built.

The choice is simple - a rapid expansion of nuclear power or moving forward with the biggest and, in my view, the best option for Weston, the West and the UK as a whole. That option is, of course, the Severn Barrage from Brean Down to Lavernock Point.

DEREK KRAFT

Beechwood Avenue

Locking