Residents 'in despair' over pylons plan

Councillor Keith Kiddie says people are 'in despair' over the proposals

Plans to build a line of pylons across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex have left residents "in despair", a councillor has claimed.

National Grid wants to install a 114-mile (184km) power line from south Norwich to Tilbury in Essex, to carry electricity generated from offshore windfarms.

On Wednesday, members of Norfolk County Council’s scrutiny committee discussed the plans.

Keith Kiddie, Conservative county councillor for Diss and Roydon, said: "I've never seen people either quite so angry or quite so in despair over these proposals."

National Grid is currently asking for people’s views on the proposals, which it says will help the government meet its target of net zero by 2050.

The Norwich to Tilbury project would run between the existing substations at Norwich, Bramford in Suffolk and Tilbury, as well as connecting to new offshore wind farms.

The pylons would be 50m-high (164ft), National Grid said.

The proposed pylons would stretch 114m (184km) from south Norwich to Tilbury in Essex

Suffolk County Council has formally opposed the plans and called for the scheme to be paused while other options are considered.

Norfolk County Council has yet to decide its formal response to the public consultation into the project, which is running until 18 June.

Dan Roper, chairman of the scrutiny committee, said they opposed the pylons completely.

"We feel the pylon plan is absolutely unacceptable," he said. "It doesn't bring benefits to Norfolk, there are alternative technologies out there, which haven't been fully explored yet.

"There is no offset fought for the blight that pylons would bring to many of our communities."

Norfolk County Council has yet to formally decide its response to National Grid's proposals

In papers, the council’s planning officers recommended calling for the current proposal to be paused.

A delay would allow other alternatives to pylons, such as an offshore connection or underground cables to be fully explored, the report said.

Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at the authority, said members supported renewable energy - just not pylons.

"Clearly, we are very keen on alternative sources of wind generation and all sorts of new technologies which can make the power in the first place," he said.

“We should get our share by making sure that we don't have to put up with pylons and that lines go under the sea or under the ground, frankly anything but pylons so we don't spoil our county.”

The county council will formally decide its response at a meeting of its planning and highways delegations committee on Monday, 10 June.

'Critically important'

In a statement, National Grid said: "The Norwich to Tilbury onshore project is critically important in achieving the government's target to connect 50GW of offshore wind by 2030.

"Delaying this vital infrastructure project would not only result in missing this target, but also delay homes and businesses in East Anglia and beyond having access to cleaner and more affordable electricity in the long term."

Got a story? Email [e-mail] or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830