Legal expert attacks plans for new pylons across East Anglia
The National Grid wants to build 112 miles of new power lines, running between Tilbury and Norwich via Ipswich.
A top lawyer has said the National Grid's consultation for plans to build high voltage electricity pylons through Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk must be rewritten to include other options.
The planned 112 mile-long power line would run between Tilbury and Norwich, with National Grid saying it's needed to carry renewable and low carbon power from offshore wind farms.
But the project has been met with a lot of opposition from campaigners and local authorities who have raised concerns about the environmental damage they believe the work will cause.
Charles Banner QC, a legal expert hired by campaigners against the proposals, said the utilities firm had been too hasty in discounting alternative schemes and had not done enough to evaluate the environmental impact.
“It is plain that National Grid (NG) has already resolved to proceed with this project and to discount alternative options – including those which involve no, or considerably fewer, pylons – including underground and/or undersea routes and/or upgrading existing infrastructure" he said.
“Furthermore, NG has failed to evaluate the relative environmental impacts of the preferred route corridor against alternatives which involve no, or considerably fewer pylons.”
“The lay public consultees have not been provided with anything approaching a sufficient level of information to enable them to make an intelligent comparison of the environmental impacts of the preferred option compared to options which involve no, or considerably fewer, pylons.
“If left uncorrected these legal deficiencies will infect the later statutory consultation” he added.
"Obviously, it's very upsetting for people"
Rosie Pearson runs the Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylons opposition group, who have been campainging against the plans on behalf of locals. She said:
"It's cutting right through the heart of rural East Anglia and passing very close to villages. Obviously, it's very upsetting for people.
"They are concerned about the proximity of pylons to their homes and the health impacts of this. Along with the impact on habitats, wildlife and tree-loss.
"You've got farmers incredibly worried because it makes access to their land and farming difficult, under the power lines".
"They are really ugly- they are 50 metre high pylons. With that comes the impact on businesses, so if you are a wedding venue, a camping venue or a tourist business that relies on the beautiful landscapes of East Anglia and then you've suddenly got monstrous, huge pylons in your view then they potentially lose business".
She also things there are better alternatives to the plan
"Instead of, at the moment all the off-shore wind farms coming onto land with their own private cables essentially, then cutting across coastal communities and then eventually feeding into this monster 180 kilometre line, you have it all properly structurally done off-shore, so you have many fewer cables and much these infrastructure coming on shore."
How have local authorities reacted to the plans?
Many local councils have already objected to the plans, including all three County Councils.
Councillor Andrew Proctor who leads Norfolk County Council has written to both National Grid and the Energy Minister expressing his concerns:
"The current proposals by National Grid threaten significant and totally unacceptable impacts on Norfolk’s communities, businesses and cherished landscape".
“We will continue to work with the Government and with the National Grid, as well as our partners here in Norfolk, to find an appropriate, sustainable way to ensure the green energy our county contributes to the UK can also benefit Norfolk as a whole.”
Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance & Environment, has also written to the Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth:
"The council objects to the proposal for National Grid’s East Anglia GREEN as it stands. I am determined that Suffolk will not suffer unnecessarily as a consequence, we will continue to protect our communities, residents and natural environment".
“Suffolk County Council has been lobbying government for 11 years on the issue of better coordination for off-shore transmission. We are demanding that a more collaborative solution is found to manage the different network connection requirements coming into Suffolk and East Anglia, and that all network options are fully explored.
Councillor Lesley Wagland OBE, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Economic Renewal, Infrastructure and Planning, says:
“Essex County Council intends to object in the strongest possible terms to the proposals being put forward in the non-statutory consultation in respect of National Grid’s East Anglia Green project.
“The County Council, along with residents, districts and parishes have only had a very short time to respond to the proposed scheme and have had very little engagement prior to May 2022 on the proposals.
“We have clearly expressed our ambition to be net zero by 2050 and the production of power from windfarms is a critical part of this, however, we have serious concerns not only about the route, but also how carbon heavy the proposed scheme of overhead pylons is.
“We are of the view that there has been insufficient consideration of alternative approaches which would allow for the required infrastructure but without the sheer scale of the damage to the environment, landscape and the difficulties of this project going ahead, all at the same time as multiple large-scale infrastructure projects which have the potential to cause major disruption across the East of England.
What are the National Grid saying?
The National Grid spokesperson told us:
"We’ve been carrying out assessments and studies to find the most appropriate way to achieve the Government's ambition to connect up to 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030 in East Anglia, and in other parts of the country. We feel these proposals best meet our obligations".
“We are at an early stage and we want to work closely with local communities and businesses as we develop the project further. We’re holding this consultation so people can tell us about the impacts they believe this project will have on them, and where they live. This is really important to us and we encourage people to talk to us and take part in the consultation.
"Once the first consultation closes on Thursday 16 June, we will carefully consider all feedback, along with information from assessments and surveys to help us develop our proposals in more detail.”