The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has been warned he faces battlegrounds across the country over plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoilt rural areas to deliver a “clean power” revolution.
Council leaders and communities oppose proposals for a vast new network of pylons across large parts of several counties, including Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
There are calls for community compensation of “hundreds of millions of pounds” if the schemes are pushed through.
The proposals are part of a £30bn National Grid overhaul – including the “great grid upgrade” plan announced last year – with connections to proposed vast new solar farms, battery storage facilities and offshore windfarms. A new generation of gas power stations may also be built and plugged into the upgraded grid to back up renewable energy and prevent the risk of blackouts.
“These pylons will desecrate the landscape, blot the views and wreck tourism,” said Colin Davie, executive councillor for economy and place at Lincolnshire county council.
These are horrible monoliths that belong to a past industrial age. We are not going to accept this. There will be a fight over it, without any a doubt.”
National Grid says its power network, built to deliver electricity from coal-fired power stations mainly in the Midlands and north of England, needs to be upgraded to provide energy from cleaner and more secure sources. Labour says it wants to “electrify the economy” and “make it easier” to build infrastructure.
Miliband has already lifted a de facto ban on onshore wind in England introduced in 2015 and approved three huge solar farms in the east of the country. He told the House of Commons on Thursday: “We will not carry on with a position where the clean energy we need does not get built.”
Projects proposed for the great grid upgrade include 420 pylons, each 50 metres (164ft) high – nearly as tall as Nelson’s Column – running from Grimsby to Walpole, near King’s Lynn in Norfolk, and a 112-mile (180km) power line from Norwich to Tilbury, Essex. Other pylon schemes are proposed from
Chesterfield to
Willington
in Derbyshire and from East Yorkshire to High Marnham in Nottinghamshire.
Communities in Wales are also battling privately-backed power projects involving pylons that are not part of the National Grid upgrade.
Andrew Malkin, from No Pylons Lincolnshire, warned of loss of farming land and blighted views from the Lincolnshire Wolds and along the coast. He said the pylons were unnecessary, with power better delivered by undersea cables, reaching land further south. The first stage of a public consultation was held between January and March.
Malkin said: “We have these beautiful open skies in Lincolnshire, and marching across that vista will be these huge metal structures. It will ruin the landscape.
“People appreciate the benefits of secure and renewable energy but consider that this delivery system of high-voltage overhead cables and pylons is antiquated. They want a better solution.”
Other countries, including Denmark and Belgium, were developing an offshore grid to reduce the amount of onshore infrastructure required, said Malkin,
adding that the Lincolnshire scheme also involved the construction of five large transmission substations along the 87-mile route, as well as new energy infrastructure to plug into the rural power line, including solar farms, battery storage and three new gas-fired power plants.
The previous government said new gas power stations would be required to maintain security of supply. Labour said in its manifesto it would “maintain a strategic reserve of gas power stations to guarantee security of supply”.
Jenny Pennington and husband, Ian, who own a 57-hectare (140-acre) farm near Spalding, are in the “swathe” where the pylons may be built, with the exact route still to be determined. Two new substations are proposed near their farm – one for the pylon scheme and another to connect an offshore wind project. Jenny Pennington said: “We can already see 25 pylons out of our bedroom window. Everything is now hitting us at once. The government has got to listen to our comments. We’ve the right to a say.”
Ian Pennington said the construction work and installation of a new network of pylons and substations, along with new solar energy farms, would cause huge disruption to farms and the loss of agricultural land. “Our family has been farming this land for generations,” he said. “Once it goes out of production, it will be gone.”
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Carl Dowling, who lives at Burgh Le Marsh, near the Lincolnshire Wolds, said the pylons would almost encircle his detached cottage, which has views to the coast. He did not consider that National Grid had properly explored the other options.
“The reason they’re going down the route of pylons is because it’s quick and cheap,” he said.
“It’s easy for them to connect any number of solar farms and batteries. This power will disappear south because there is no need here for that amount.”
National Grid said the cost of the Lincolnshire pylon scheme is about £1.1bn, while the cost would be about £6.5bn for underground cabling and about £4.4bn for undersea cabling.
Officials said planning guidance stipulates that “overhead lines should be the strong starting presumption for electricity networks”.
Barry Lewis, leader of Derbyshire county council, said the pylon scheme in his county was proposed to run through Amber Valley, which he considered should be designated an area of outstanding natural beauty. He said: “This would have a huge visual impact on our local landscape, much of which is rural in nature, and the reason why millions of tourists flock to Derbyshire every year.”
Lincolnshire councillor Davie said his county would expect compensation of several hundreds of millions of pounds if the scheme is pushed through.
Norfolk county council is opposing the proposals for pylons in the region but is also calling for funds and “deliverable benefits” if the project is approved.
National Grid said in a statement: “Transporting new clean, green energy to homes and businesses across the country will require the largest overhaul of the grid in a generation. Communities are playing a fundamental role in this energy transition, and we believe those that host energy infrastructure should receive fair and enduring benefits for doing so.
“Communities also play an important role in helping shape development of our infrastructure projects and we would encourage everyone to continue to share views through the consultation process across our projects.”
Officials say they are awaiting guidance from the government on the delivery of community benefits linked to the projects.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Securing Britain’s clean energy future requires improving outdated infrastructure to get renewable electricity on the grid and unleash its true potential.
“It is also important we listen to people’s concerns, and where communities live near clean energy infrastructure, they should benefit directly from it.”
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