PYLONS UPDATE

Since the last update on the pylon plans for around Nailsea we have been waiting for National Grid’s next move.  But as they are still being painfully slow here’s an update on what has been happening in recent weeks.

HINKLEY C TO SEABANK CONNECTION PROJECT

National Grid still have no firm date for telling us the results of the consultation into the Hinkley to Seabank Connection.  They said they would come up with their new policy on when to put connections underground (see below) and then produce the plans for the connection in our area.  However it is not clear what the timescales are for this.

POLICY ON PUTTING ELECTRICITY NETWORK CONNECTIONS UNDERGROUND 

If you replied to National Grid’s consultation on their “Undergrounding Policy” you may have had an email from them recently saying that there is still no date for the publication of the independent report from KEMA/IET on the cost of undergrounding.  NG say they need to come up with a new undergrounding policy to feed in to various connection projects in England and Wales.  They are therefore closing the consultation on what their new policy should be on Monday 4 July 2011 with a view to publishing their revised approach to undergrounding later this summer.  This means that when the new undergrounding policy is published it will not include the KEMA/IET independent research on the costs of undergrounding.  Another deep flaw in their process.

If you haven’t already given your views on what the undergrounding policy should be – or if you have and want to add more – please go to http://www.nationalgridundergrounding.com/  on or before 4 July.

SECRETARY OF STATE IS ON OUR SIDE

Local MP Dr Liam Fox has been very active lately raising the pylons issue nationally with Government colleagues.  He has written to Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to get answers from him on National Grid's consultation process.  He also emphasises the many benefits of using undergrounding technology instead of transmitting electricity along old-fashioned pylons and overhead lines and asks for Government policy to change away from the presumption that pylons are the default transmission technology.

Take a look at his letter and attachments at www.save-our-valley.co.uk

IN THE MEDIA

You may have seen that the pylons issue has gone national as so many people and places are facing the same issue.  Newspapers as diverse as the Daily Mail and the Guardian have picked up the plans for hundreds of miles of new pylons to connect power stations and wind farms across England, Wales and Scotland.   (Click on the hyperlinks to see the two most recent articles).  The recent BBC 2 series Windfarm Wars, whilst not referring to pylons, did illuminate the fight the little guy has when up against Government policy.

Oh, and National Grid’s CEO Steve Holliday revealed that the company’s pre-tax profits for last year were up 25% to £2.47 billion and earnings per share were up 32%.

GOVERNMENT POLICY UPDATED

The Government has just published its new National Policy Statements (NPSs) on Energy.  This matters because when the decisions are made about the Hinkley-Seabank connection it is these NPSs that will be the governing policy documents.  Take a look at www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk and in particular “EN5 – Electricity Networks Infrastructure”.  This shows that the Government now accepts that overhead lines will not always be the right solution and that the presumption that undergrounding costs up to 20 times more than overhead lines has now gone.  There is still a long way to go but this is good progress.

ELECTRO MAGNETIC FIELDS

The Council of Europe recently passed a resolution to urge Member Governments to reduce human exposure to Electro Magnetic Fields – such as those given off by high voltage power lines like those proposed for our area.  However it is up to each Government to decide how to act on this resolution which, in the case of power lines, simply says Member Governments are required “to introduce planning measures to keep high-voltage power lines and other electric installations at a safe distance from dwellings”.  What makes a “safe distance” is not defined.  So please write to your MP or MEP to ask for this to be clarified. 

A report on this resolution is at http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20110528-council-europe-resolution.asp

ARE OUR POLITICIANS HELPING US?

Thanks to your help before the recent local elections, North Somerset Council has raised the profile of the pylons issue.  The latest North Somerset Life magazine says the Council “has been active in trying to influence national planning guidance on this issue”.  When you next contact your local Councillor do ask what s/he is going to be doing now.