Scrap overhead and go offshore, ASELA Leaders tell National Grid in response to East Anglia GREEN proposals

Leaders of the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA) have added their voices to those of thousands of residents across South Essex, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk in opposition to National Grid plans for a new power line that they say will ‘cut a scar across our landscape’.

National Grid has completed its initial informal public consultation, but Council Leaders, MP’s parishes and residents are gravely concerned that National Grid appears unwilling to consider any alternatives to their ‘destructive’ proposals. The proposals also seem to be very poorly informed, even putting pylons directly through the site allocated for Dunton Hills Garden Village.

ASELA Chair and Leader of Brentwood Borough Council, Cllr Chris Hossack, said: “South Essex is blessed with a variety of natural landscapes, including woodland, parkland, wetland and marshland and miles of coastline and river frontage. They are an important asset in our fight against climate change and to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. While we are planning to enhance these natural landscapes and open them up to more residents and visitors, National Grid plans to cut a scar across them and erect monstrous 50m high carbon-rich steel pylons.

“We understand the importance of bringing energy generated by offshore wind and nuclear and upgrading the National Grid – that is not at dispute here. But these East Anglia GREEN proposals are anything but green. The green solution, and the one that would be best for all our residents, businesses and our environment, is to use undersea power cables.

“We should be building an offshore ‘ring main’ to take generated power from offshore wind farms and power stations to put it into the grid with minimal impact on the environment for the benefit on consumers.

“National Grid has to think again and switch its cabling plans from overhead to offshore.”