Portsmouth council keeps up pressure over Aquind interconnector plans

The cable would make landfall at Eastney in Hampshire

A council leader has pledged to continue the fight against a planned £1.2bn cross-Channel electricity link as a final decision looms.

Aquind Ltd wants to lay cables between Portsmouth and Normandy in France.

Portsmouth City Council has recently entered into an agreement with the firm to ensure sea defence work is not hindered by the plans.

But leader Steve Pitt has insisted the authority will continue to "strongly oppose" the interconnector scheme.

The proposals were first submitted in 2019. A government decision to block the project, made in 2022, was overturned in the High Court.

That meant the plans were sent back to ministers who are set to make a final decision soon.

More than 200 people attended a protest in Portsmouth in April

Mr Pitt, who said the route proposed was "both impractical and unacceptable", hopes they come to the same conclusion and reject the idea.

The cable would make landfall at Eastney and be laid through Portsmouth and the Hampshire countryside to Lovedean.

"It will severely impact our residents' everyday lives and wellbeing and impact our environment," Mr Pitt said.

He explained a recent so-called Works Co-operation Agreement with Aquind was "a necessary 'without prejudice' process".

It sets out how the council and Aquind would work together to limit clashes between the ongoing fourth and fifth phases of the North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme and any laying of the interconnector.

Earlier this month, Aquind director Richard Glasspool said the signing of the agreement showed the company was "ready for constructive engagement" with the council and other organisations.

A spokesperson for the firm previously described the interconnector as "vital infrastructure" which would provide up to 5% of Britain's annual electricity consumption - enough to power five million homes.

But campaigners, councillors and local MPs said they were concerned by issues including environmental damage and disruption across the city.