BUILDING a power-generating bridge across Morecambe Bay is a "viable" option that Cumbria County Council is to pursue with the Government, reports Justin Hawkins.

CCC cabinet this week agreed to lobby Westminster to fund a feasibility study into building a 12-mile Bay crossing from Heysham to Rampside.

Lawson Short, portfolio holder for environmental issues, told this week's cabinet meeting: "The main thrust is that it would provide renewable energy.

"The thought of using it as a bridge is a kind of addition it is not the main point of the project."

He said the idea of a Bay bridge had been around since the 1960s, but new technology had now made it "viable".

Coun Short warned that the project was likely to prove highly controversial because the bridge would run through some of the most valuable wildlife habitats in Britain and key sites for important bird species.

"The environmental lobby would oppose this," he said. "But if environmental problems can be overcome, it would be a very, very good project for Furness and the west coast of Cumbria as well as for north Lancashire. The problems are not insurmountable."

Estimates suggest a bridge designed to harness the power of the tide to generate renewable electricity could produce 515 megawatts of power roughly equivalent to half that of a medium-sized power station.

CCC's report says that would be enough to make a bridge commercially viable while the transport link from north Lancashire to Furness could bring enormous social and economic benefits to Cumbria and north Lancashire.

The scheme is being promoted by the Bridge Across the Bay company, set up by Staveley-based businessman David Brockbank.

Also on the board of the not-for-profit company are heavyweight directors such as Michael Hulme, chairman of West Lakes Renaissance and board member of Cumbria Vision; Professor Bill Davies, director of Lancaster University's renowned Environ-ment Centre; and Julian Carter of North West Renewables.

Mr Brockbank, a former chairman of the Lake District National Park Authority's development control committee, said he "fervently believed" the bridge would go-ahead because it had so many positive points.

It would, he said, benefit the environment by generating green energy and by cutting vehicle emissions by reducing journey times to and from west Cumbria by an hour.

And, while there would be some environmental harm caused by the physical structure of the bridge itself, Mr Brockbank said the negative environmental impact on the Bay at large would be minimal because the tidal turbines would allow the tides to flow in and out of the Bay as usual without affecting high and low water levels.