News and Events
News
19th July 2010
SOV commitee members report from National Grid’s first "inception meeting".
Last night (Monday 19th July) Save Our Valley Committee Members attended National Grid’s first "inception meeting" to discuss setting up around 5 "community forums" along the route from Hinkley to Avonmouth. (You may have read in the papers about this meeting – if you want to go to the other one, it is at the Webbington Hotel from 6.30pm this Thursday).
We were very disappointed in what National Grid had to say during the evening. Firstly the only options on the table were the 2 land based route corridors; NG would not be putting undersea options up for discussion and undergrounding, although it may be discussed, is unlikely to cover a major part of the route.
Attendees (who ranged from North Somerset Councillors to people representing local schools and came from many parts of the proposed route) made it clear that these "forums" should belong to the community and not be creatures of National Grid. However NG will be handling all the paperwork to invite people to attend and drafting the terms of reference. There will however be an independent local organiser and all the groups will be Chaired by an independent former planning inspector.
After being asked several times what exactly the "forums" would be able to influence, National Grid said that they would be able to influence landscaping and mitigation issues – i.e. the exact location of pylons and perhaps planting a few trees. Apart from this the groups would have no real influence; they would be able to comment on documents such as the Environmental Impact Assessment but, should a forum disagree with NG’s position, there is no mechanism for this dissent to influence what goes into NG’s application. Indeed NG will use the opportunity to understand the obstacles they may face with the IPC (or its successor) and strengthen their arguments.
Save Our Valley does not exist to help National Grid decide where to place their pylons in our beautiful landscape so you will not be surprised to learn that we will not be participating in any of the new Community Forums. NG said "if you don’t participate then you won’t be able to influence the issues." The truth is that if we did participate we wouldn’t be able to influence the issues that matter to our community – i.e. getting real action on the undersea/underground options – and participation would be seen as agreement to NG’s highly flawed process. We will continue to fight for our countryside and thank you for your continued support.
7th July 2010
Demonstration at Nailsea National Grid drop-in
Thanks so much to all of you who went to the National Grid exhibition in Nailsea on Saturday. The turn-out was phenomenal. There were queues of people at the registration desk; National Grid ran out of feedback forms and had to get more photocopied. You have left NG in no doubt as to the continued depth of feeling and strength of numbers against their plans for our area.
So what next for the campaign? At the local level we expect all to go quiet now until the Autumn when NG announce their next steps. In the meantime we will continue lobbying with campaign groups in Somerset, Suffolk and further afield to make progress on changing the national guidelines under which NG operates.
Thank you again for all your support since November and we’ll be in touch again later in the year.
28th June 2010
BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours article broadcast Monday 28th June.
Paul Miner, CPRE's senior planning campaigner, debates with David Mercer of National Grid about the proposed expansion of power lines around the country and putting the lines underground.
listen on BBC iPlayer Starts 6 minutes 50 into the broadcast. 9 minutes duration.
21st June 2010
Extended Consultation Process - Update
Unfortunately hardly anyone turned up to the exhibition on 11 June to register their protest with National Grid. National Grid were overheard saying they were relieved that the people of Nailsea, Backwell and Wraxall are no longer concerned about their pylon plans.
WE KNOW THIS IS FAR FROM TRUE we must show our passionate opposition to National Grid
Please make a commitment to come to the final exhibition on Saturday 3 July 10am to 4pm at Scotch Horn Leisure Centre.
1st June 2010
Drop-in sessions for the next round of National Grid Consultation
You should now have had your glossy magazine from National Grid outlining the extended consultation process on the Hinkley to Avonmouth pylon plans. In it you’ll see the dates for the new "drop-in" sessions.
Many people have been asking SOV how they should react to this latest attempt at consultation. We know there is very little new in what NG are saying but we urge you to keep the pressure on them by:
- Attending one or more of the June/July drop-in sessions.
- If you’ve emailed or written to National Grid and not had your questions answered then take a copy of your email/letter to the drop-in session and ask for answers. Don’t leave until the National Grid representative has given you answers that you are happy with.
- If you want another question to ask say: "Are you considering options other than pylons over Corridors 1 and 2? If you are, where’s the proof that you are?" or "What are you telling me now that you didn’t tell me last October/November?"
- Most importantly, please email/write again to National Grid with all your unanswered concerns and copy this to Dr Liam Fox MP so he knows that this issue is not quietly going away. (His PA’s email address is douglasi@parliament.uk)
In case the issue comes up you might like to know that SOV is working very closely with Nailsea Town Council and Save Nailsea West for a solution that’s right for all our community. The SOV Committee thanks you for your continued support and efforts to keep the pressure on National Grid.
Some of local National Grid Drop-in dates are:| Time | Venue | |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 7 June | 2pm–8pm | Tickenham Village Hall, 205 Clevedon Road, Tickenham, BS21 6RX |
| Tuesday 8 June | 2pm–7.30pm | Portbury Village Hall, 25 High Street, Portbury, Bristol, BS20 7TW |
| Thursday 10 June | 2pm–7.30pm | Horsecastle Chapel, Horsecastle Farm Road, Yatton, North Somerset, BS49 4QQ |
| Friday 11 June | 2pm–8pm | Scotch Horn Leisure Centre, Brockway, Nailsea, North Somerset, BS48 1BZ |
| Monday 14 June | 1pm–6.30pm | Portbury Village Hall, 25 High Street, Portbury, Bristol, BS20 7TW |
| Friday 18 June | 2pm–8pm | Avonway Hall, Avonway, Portishead, Bristol, BS20 6LT |
| Saturday 19 June | 10am–4pm | Yatton RFC, The Park, North End Road, Yatton, North Somerset, BS49 4HH |
| Friday 25 June | 2pm–8pm | Avonway Hall, Avonway, Portishead, Bristol, BS20 6LT |
| Saturday 26 June | 10am–4pm | Backwell School, Backwell, Bristol, BS48 3BX |
| Monday 28 June | 2pm–8pm | Tickenham Village Hall, 205 Clevedon Road, Tickenham, BS21 6RX |
| Thursday 1 July | 2pm–8pm | Backwell WI, 4 Station Road, Backwell, BS48 3QW |
| Saturday 3 July | 10am–4pm | Scotch Horn Leisure Centre, Brockway, Nailsea, North Somerset, BS48 1BZ |
The full list of Drop-in events calendar
26th May 2010
Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) is going to be abolished
You may have heard in the Queen’s Speech that the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) is going to be abolished and replaced with a Major Infrastructure Unit (MIU) which will report directly to the Government.
So how does this affect National Grid’s plans for pylons through our area which the IPC were going to preside over? It’s not clear yet but it looks like there could be further delay in National Grid announcing what they want to do if they wait to see what rules the new MIU will impose. Uncertainty is not what we want but it may result in a better, more democratic system. We have contacted Liam Fox and asked him to do whatever he can to ensure that the delays are not excessive and he has promised to take this up with Eric Pickles, the new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Meanwhile the IPC continues to operate and we are waiting for them to publish the minutes of the meeting they organised on 18 May where National Grid met with Councillors and protest groups.
National Grid still say they are about to send out letters to everyone (i.e. those who responded to the original consultation and all the homes they leafleted back in October) giving more information about why they rejected undersea and announcing dates for a further round of exhibitions. Do let us know if you get one of these letters.
6th January 2010
Beauly to Denny power line given go ahead
A sad day for anti-pylon protest. This is just what we are up against, so join in the SOV campaign.
BBC News articleUpcoming Eventsgo to news
Thursday 22nd July
National Grid’s final "inception meeting"
Webbington Hotel from 6.30pm. A meeting to discuss setting up around 5 "community forums" along the route from Hinkley to Avonmouth.
Saturday 17th July
Campaigns Against The Pylons Fundraising Event
If you are free on Saturday 17 July do go to the fundraising event in Loxton. It’s being organised by Richard Hussey and is raising funds for all the anti-pylon groups across the area. The details are
From 2pm onwards on Saturday 17 July
At Loxton Hunting Lodge, Hill View Road, Loxton BS26 2XJ
It’s about 1 mile from the Webbington Hotel. Go into Loxton and take the small road on the left. Loxton Hunting Lodge is at the top of that small road.
BBQ food and drinks (alcoholic and soft) on sale – proceeds to the anti-pylon lobbying fund.
Live blues band.