Overhead pylons plan shocks city council

Chelmsford City Council has raised concerns about National Grid's plan to build power lines through East Anglia

There was not enough evidence to suggest power lines proposed near a city that would carry energy from offshore wind farms would be required by 2030, a council said.

Chelmsford City Council raised concerns over National Grid's plan to build a 114-mile long (184km) power line from Tilbury in Essex, through Suffolk and on to Norwich. The previous government set a target of doing this by 2030.

Liberal Democrat councillor Rose Moore said the Lib-Dem controlled council understood the need for clean energy, but thought plans could impact the landscape.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero previously said: "Securing Britain's clean energy future requires improving outdated infrastructure."

The city council said the plan would have "harmful landscape impacts, potential for harm to residential amenity and in particular the harm to designated heritage assets".

It said there was "significant concern" regarding the impacts on heritage sites in the villages of Little Waltham and Great Waltham.

There was also significant concern that the archaeological remains of an Iron Age settlement could be affected.

The council's preferred strategic option would be to use offshore technology instead of onshore power lines.

'Insufficient evidence'

Ms Moore, cabinet member for Greener and Safer Chelmsford, said: "Please be assured that while the need for this clean energy transition is fully understood, it's proposed that the city council maintain our objection in principle to the use of onshore pylons and power lines.

"We object because insufficient evidence has been provided to show these power lines are needed by 2030 and that the accelerated program of consultation has taken the project outside of the scope for what we call holistic network design."

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero added: "National Grid has put the Norwich to Tilbury proposals out for public consultation and like all infrastructure, these proposals would be subject to a rigorous planning permission process."