Campaigner goes into battle again to stop pylons

Mark Baggett said he wanted Green Gen Cymru to look again at alternatives

The owner of a popular canal-side inn is going into battle again to stop electricity pylons from being built nearby.

Green GEN Cymru is seeking to run power lines almost 50km (31 miles) from Cefn Coch in Powys to connect with the National Grid at Lower Frankton in Shropshire.

But it has faced opposition from people, including Mark Baggett, the co-owner of the Navigation Inn at Maesbury Marsh.

He successfully fought off a previous attempt to build pylons through the area and said the power cables should either run through Wales or run underground.

In 2014, his pub became a focal point for what he said was a "very, very vocal" campaign against pylons, with information boards up in the pub.

He even renamed it the "Pylon Inn" for a day to raise awareness.

Speaking about the new plans, Mr Baggett said: "It's not fair that the proposals that come from Wales are not considering taking the power through their own country.

"We haven't got big mountains where you can hide things," he added.

Owen Llewellyn Jones from Green Gen Cymru has been involved in running a series of consultation events to explain the plans.

He said the pylons would be smaller than the ones previously proposed, with an average height of 28.5m (94ft).

He also promised to listen to people's views and said the plans had already been adapted to take feedback on board and had been moved away from communities such as Pant and Crickheath in Shropshire.

But he conceded: "This is a large infrastructure coming through parts of the country.

"This is not going to be an exercise where everybody's happy."

He also said running the entire route underground would cost five times as much, and those costs would ultimately be passed on to the consumer.

Green Gen Cymru said its pylons would be smaller than the ones proposed in 2014

Mr Baggett said his pub was in "an extremely beautiful part of the country", and he wanted to keep it that way.

He said he worried for businesses, like a nearby wedding venue, and said pylons would "ruin the view" for wedding guests wanting to take photographs.

Mr Baggett said he and his fellow objectors were not so-called Nimbys - Not in My Back Yard - but wanted the alternatives properly looked at.

Consultation on the plans were due to continue until mid-April, and a planning application was then expected next year.

If approved, work would start in 2027 and be completed by 2029.