East Anglia MPs call for pylons consultation to be reopened

MPs from across East Anglia have called for National Grid to reopen a consultation program on a 112-mile pylon scheme

A group of East Anglian MPs has called for a consultation on a proposed 112-mile (180km) line of pylons across three counties to be reopened.

The National Grid wants to build the pylons to carry offshore wind power from Norwich to Tilbury in Essex.

The letter, signed by 13 MPs, called for residents to be given a chance to "express a meaningful choice".

National Grid has said the alternative of offshore power cables was not "technically feasible or economic".

The MPs claimed the public had not been given the same level of choice as those in the north of the country facing similar schemes before a consultation ended on 16 June for the East Anglian Green project.

Consternation

The group, led by South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge, said plans for the 50-metre high metal structures caused "deep consternation" across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, and argued constituents had been denied a choice.

One section of the proposed line would be buried underground - where it crosses the Dedham Vale area of outstanding natural beauty on the Essex-Suffolk border.

It criticised National Grid for refusing to consider the undersea route as an option, while justifying going offshore in the north.

A consultation on the plans is ended on 16 June

The letter said: "National Grid are justifying going undersea off the north precisely to protect communities in the way we are denied even discussing in East Anglia.

"We are sure you will agree that this represents a gross unfairness, with one approach in one part of the UK, one in another - and yet all our constituents are bill payers, funding this infrastructure, and surely deserve equal treatment."

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The letter to Greg Hands, the government minister responsible for energy, called for a restart to the consultation so residents did not feel like "second-class citizens".

The scheme has been proposed to help the country reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

A National Grid spokesman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that offshore options had been considered "where appropriate", but spending needed to represent value.

He added there would be further opportunities to comment on the East Anglian proposals before a 2024 submission to government inspectors.

The letter was signed by Mr Cartlidge and 12 other Conservative MPs from across Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

They were Kemi Badenoch (Saffron Walden), Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar), Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford), Sir Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex), Will Quince (Colchester), John Whittingdale (Maldon), Jerome Mayhew (Broadland), Richard Bacon (South Norfolk), Duncan Baker (North Norfolk), George Freeman (Mid Norfolk), Jo Churchill (Bury St Edmunds), and Dan Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich).