National Grid Delay Pylon Decision

Enough already!

I reproduce below a press release received yesterday evening from the County Council, which has never been shy about expressing its disapproval of electricity pylons!  Councillor James Finch, who is quoted below, repesents a Division that would be directly and adversely affected by National Grid's plans.

'Suffolk is celebrating today as National Grid announces a significant delay in it’s decision over the proposals to erect pylons across the county’s much loved landscape.

The decision on whether to erect electricity pylons between Bramford and Twinstead has been delayed by a number of years, signalling a further window of opportunity for the people of Suffolk to continue to campaign against the proposals.

National Grid has announced today that they now expect there to be a need for greater electricity connection in the early 2020’s rather than 2017. This is based upon information from companies proposing to build new power generation within East Anglia and when they intend to start producing electricity.

Suffolk County Council led the campaign against the proposals, urging National Grid to make significant adaptations by burying the entire transmission line underground, rather than leaving a large section of the line above ground in the form of pylons.

 James Finch, Suffolk County Councillor for Stour Valley, said:

“Today’s announcement is further evidence that the system is broken. That National Grid pursued a scheme for so long which was clearly not needed at this time is a farce. National Grid’s decision to suspend the project is therefore a victory not only for common sense, but for the people of Suffolk.

“Hopefully this decision is an indication that they are beginning to listen to what the county council and local people have been saying for years - and that equally, therefore, they have taken on board that any of their schemes in Suffolk should be entirely underground.

“It is indeed regrettable that communities across Suffolk and Essex have been ‘strung along’ for so long, but I sincerely hope National Grid recognises that Suffolk will not lay down in its fight against pylons. When National Grid does reappear, whilst we will continue to engage with them constructively, they will find us as resolute as ever in our defence of this county's natural beauty.

“In the meantime we mustn’t be complacent; the county council will continue to work with the other councils and local communities to use this pause as an opportunity to further lobby Government.”

Pylons do have fans.

The pylons across Suffolk saga rumbles on, and although the danger has probably receded for Waldingfield Ward, others in the South of the District continue to argue for a more sensitive and holistic approach from National Grid.

In this connection, I thought that the Pylon Appreciation Society, which is lead by the rather suspiciously named Flash Bristow, was a practical joke and didn’t actually exist in reality, but it seems that I am wrong.

On the Today programme yesterday morning Ms Bristow, from the Society, was invited to debate the pylon issue with Tessa Munt, the Liberal Democrat MP, who is fighting the march of these monsters across her Somerset constituency.

I notice from the Pylon Appreciation Society’s website that Ms Bristow lives in Leytonstone, but spends her time out and about photographing pylons while extolling their aesthetic and practical benefits.  I suppose that if you live in Leytonstone you are not too bothered about the adverse impact that these eyesores represent for the minority who live in rural areas.  The National Grid invariably buries pylons in urban areas.  It irritated me to hear Ms Bristow repeat the oft repeated claim from National Grid that it is 12 to 17 times more expensive to ‘underground’ transmission cables.  We all know now that this is a misleading exaggeration.

More blots on the landscape.

Recently, according to the Times, Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, wrote to Chris Huhne arguing that it is in fact cheaper to bury power lines underground, or to reroute lines under the sea.  He claims that National Grid in making its back of envelope calculations has neither taken into account the lower cost of maintenance for buried cables, and also the fact that far less power is lost in transmission.  Over forty years, taking these factors into account, pylons due to be built in Somerset would cost £1.1m, whereas a buried line would cost only half this amount.

“If we are to have credible green credentials then the decision needs to be taken on more than short-term economics ignoring the environmental impact in the longer term,” Dr Fox wrote in his letter.

This seems right to me, and it also seems a good principle to adopt when looking at planning issues in general.  I wonder if the Government will extrapolate from Dr Fox's principles when it comes to reviewing their planning guidance?  I am afraid that I have my doubts.

Press release about National Grid's preferred pylon route from the Groton Pylon Alliance

I circulated blog readers in Little and Great Waldingfield on the day of the announcement with regard to National Grid's decision on the route for the new line of pylons across Suffolk.

I now publish below the press release I have just received from the campaigning group, The Groton Pylon Alliance.

The bottom line is that the edge of Great and Little Waldingfield have been spared from these blots on the landscape.

'As many in south Suffolk will now be aware, National Grid announced on 12^th July that it is proposing to build a new overhead power line from Bramford to Twinstead along Corridor 2. This option involves the taking down of the 132,000 volt line from Burstall Bridge to Twinstead Tee and building a new 400,000 volt line in its place.

The Groton Pylon Alliance welcomes the news that the unspoilt landscape and environment of south Suffolk will not be blighted by the introduction of new power lines and pylons where none currently exist. However, as the GPA has consistently stated, it calls on National Grid to embrace new technologies and underground as much of the new route as possible. In this respect the GPA is pleased to see that National Grid have announced that they “will be giving detailed consideration to areas where placing cables underground would be appropriate”.

In the coming weeks, the GPA will be reviewing National Grid’s “Feedback Report on Stage 1 Consultation” in detail with its advisers and also contacting other campaign groups to explore ways in which the GPA can assist them in Stage 2 of National Grid’s process.

The GPA also intends to remain vigilant and keep a watching brief with other local groups over the coming years to meet any future threats to the landscape and environment of south Suffolk.

Finally, the GPA would like to thank the many hundreds of people across south Suffolk and beyond who have supported its campaign over the last two years and who have together put in a tremendous amount of work to protect our countryside.'

 Notes: The GPA is a conservation group formally representing the interests of 19 villages in south Suffolk in relation to National Grid’s proposed infrastructure project for a new 400kV overhead power line from Bramford near Ipswich to Twinstead near Sudbury. The GPA includes the villages of Groton, Kersey, Boxford, Edwardstone, Aldham, Milden, Chelsworth, Whatfield, Semer, Lindsey, Little Waldingfield, Elmsett, Nedging-with-Naughton, Monks Eleigh, Great Waldingfield, Bildeston, Lavenham, Flowton and Brent Eleigh.

No news good news?

It seems that there will be no decision on the National Grid’s plan to march pylons across Suffolk until next year. I am indebted to the Stour Valley Underground Newsletter for this information. The Government has, I understand, told National Grid to ‘go away and research the cost of undergrounding the cables properly’, rather than keep repeating their unsubstantiated mantra that it is ’17 times more expensive’ to hide the offending wires underground.

For news and views on the pylon issue visit:

www.stourvalleyunderground.org.uk

and click on ‘news’ for the latest newsletter.

The photograph above is from the organisation’s website.