Revolt news148 of 29.7.03 and similar messages are sent to Revolt Committee members with email, bcc to others who may be interested. If you do not wish to receive these messages please let me know. For further information please see http://www.revolt.co.uk/ For your convenience ... these news issues are usually in plain text because attachments may take time to receive and may be difficult for some to open. We try to keep it simple. On this occasion there is an attachment in Word, so the message will be sent with MIME and again without MIME, to try to ensure everyone can open it. 1.Questions still arise like: "Wasn't it part of NG case for the new line that the old line (the one which runs closer to the N Y Moors) would be dismantled at least in part once the new one was operational?". For clarification, there are two old lines involved, one 275 kV line in Teesside to be removed, and one 400 kV line from Stockton to York which is to remain. The old 275 kV line is further from the NY National Park than the new 400 kV line, all along its length except at one point where they cross at Crathorne. The old 400 kV line, which will not be removed, runs very close to the National Park along its western edge, whereas the new line there is a little further west. There are also two physically separate new lines: Lackenby to Picton (the 15 miles long Teesside part, which causes the 275 kV line to be removed, and to which Revolt does not object in principle) and Picton to Shipton (the 35 miles long part from Teesside to York, to which Revolt does object in principle as it is not needed except for speculative commercial reasons). 2. Back in news143.1 we reported "Devon gets grant for a continuous 23MW bio-mass power station, the largest of its kind in Europe. See Appendix 1 for details." The appended report was from the Western Morning News which emphasised the benefits of the proposal. Well, it's not all positive, in that we've heard from local residents who are objecting to the prospect of heavy traffic on small country lanes. Perhaps the problem is with the scale and location of the plant, whereas smaller systems may have much less local impact. 3. The NRPB issued a consultation document in May (news144.8) with a new review of EMF research and proposals to adopt the international (ICNIRP) guidelines and exposure restrictions, somewhat more stringent than the present NRPB restrictions which apply in the UK. More significantly, the document proposes adopting a precautionary approach to EMFs from power lines and mobile phone masts. While that is a breakthrough, the proposal is to wait for generic guidelines from WHO and to refer the precautionary considerations to a stakeholder consultation process, all of which could create long delays. My response (attached in Word 7.0) welcomes the moves and calls also for more immediate interim precautionary measures. I give the document one and a half cheers!