NORTHAVON MP Steve Webb is to discuss proposals for a new nuclear power station at Oldbury with the planning body that will make the final decision.

Mr Webb was due to hold talks with a representative from the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) this week.

The IPC, which was set up last year, is an independent body that makes decisions on applications for nationally significant infrastructure projects such as power stations.

The planning body was created to speed up the planning process of large-scale projects but has been accused of being less democratic because of the reduced involvement of local authorities.

Mr Webb said: "For major decisions such as the site of a new power station, it simply cannot be right that the final decision is taken by a body that no one elected and which is not accountable to local people.

"The IPC has been created to slash the time it takes to get planning approval but I am determined that local people will not lose out because of a fast-tracked process."

Last year the Department for Energy and Climate Change announced that Oldbury was one of 10 sites approved by the government for new nuclear build.

Energy company E.ON has bought land around the existing Oldbury Power Station and in the village of Shepperdine, as well as securing a National Grid connection, in preparation for building a new nuclear power station, which could include cooling towers.

Mr Webb said: "Whether or not people support new nuclear power plants in general, local residents will inevitably have a range of concerns about a huge project of this sort.

"Local people have already contacted me to let me know that they are worried about the visual impact of up to four large cooling towers and about the impact of up to 5,000 construction workers when building work is at its peak.

"These are the sorts of issues I will be raising with the IPC to ensure that local concerns are fed in to the process at an early stage."