Parish council erects pylon to fight new power line

Ian Nicholls, chairman at Writtle Parish Council, said he and colleagues wanted a "meaningful dialogue" on the issue

A mini pylon has been put up in a village after a parish council feared residents did not know about major electricity proposals.

National Grid wants to put up a 114 mile-long (184km) power line from Tilbury in Essex to Norwich, to carry electricity from offshore wind farms.

Writtle Parish Council organised a mini pylon to be erected last week on Writtle Green in Writtle, near Chelmsford, as a way of raising awareness of the plans.

A spokesperson from National Grid said a newsletter had been sent to about 41,000 residents living within 1km (0.6 miles) of the proposed route.

'Engaging community'

Liz Reynolds, a member of the Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk Pylons Facebook group, said: "It is an awareness pylon, there are still a lot of people who are totally unaware of the plans."

If proposals go ahead as planned 23 pylons, which would be 50m-high (164ft), could be built in Writtle.

The parish council's demonstration pylon is more than 18m high, and will remain in the village until 17 June.

The mini pylon was constructed by a scaffolding company, which completed the work for free.

Ian Nicholls, the chair of Writtle Parish Council, said: “By placing a replica pylon on Writtle Green during our Open Gardens event, we hope to engage our community and visitors in meaningful dialogue about the future of our countryside.”

Campaigner Rosie Pearson said "it is really hard to paint a picture on how devastating this is"

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 new power line forms part of the Great Grid Upgrade, which is being described as the largest overhaul of the electricity system in generations.

Campaigners have called for the power cables to be connected out at sea or run underground.

But National Grid said that would cost more, resulting in higher bills for customers.

The spokesperson for National Grid said it had run three public consultations, which had more than 7,000 attendees across 40 in-person events and 17 webinars. Five more webinars have been planned.

"We have received more than 11,000 pieces of feedback so far," they added.

Rosie Pearson, the founder of the Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk Pylons Facebook group, said: "It is really hard to paint a picture on how devastating this is for people.

"It is going to be really disruptive."

The public consultation was expected to conclude on 18 June, but has been extended until 26 July due to the general election taking place on 4 July.

If plans were to be approved by the government, building works could start in 2027 and the new line would be working by 2031.