A SENIOR government minister has said local opinion will not decide if a new nuclear power station will be built near Oldbury.

The comments were made during a two-hour visit by Charles Hendry, Minister for Energy, to the existing Oldbury Power Station.

During his visit yesterday, Mr Hendry also viewed the proposed site for the new station at Shepperdine and met with representatives from Horizon, the company that wants to build the power plant.

Mr Hendry said: "Local opinion is important but it can’t be the deciding factor."

He insisted, however, that people’s views were being listened to.

He added: "This is one part of the process. This isn’t the minister coming down and stamping a seal of approval on it. There are many more stages to go through before it goes forward."

The visit to Oldbury was one of eight being made by members of the ministerial team at the Department for Energy and Climate Change to each of the preferred sites around the country where the government believes a new nuclear power station could be operational by 2025.

The visit came less than two weeks before the end of the second round of consultation being held on the government’s National Policy Statements on energy, which includes the list of preferred sites.

Speaking to the Gazette during his visit, Mr Hendry said: "The coalition position is quite clear, new nuclear does have a role to play. It is very important low carbon technology.

"We recognise a new nuclear power station is a very big structure and will be visible from a very large distance.

"But if we don’t get investment in new plants we will have a very significant energy crunch."

The Department for Energy and Climate Change’s consultation on the revised National Policy Statements ends on Monday, January 24. To view the policy statement on nuclear, which includes Oldbury, in full or to comment, visit www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk/nuclear