Essex County Council (ECC) has confirmed its opposition to plans to install hundreds of pylons and miles of cables across parts of the county.
National Grid proposes installing 112 miles of cable between Norwich and Tilbury, after coming ashore near Aldeburgh from wind farms. The cables would be supported by 520 pylons up to 50 metres high, and a 20-hectare substation on the Tendring peninsula. The line would briefly run underground at the Dedham Vale area of outstanding natural beauty on the Essex-Suffolk border.
Objectors say that the cables should run under the sea or wholly underground – a solution dismissed by the National Grid, which says it could cause costs to rise from a projected £793m to between £2bn-£4bn.
Among the reasons the council remains opposed to the plans include the consultation lacking evidence needed to justify the project being delivered by 2030, and the reliance on it being delivered by onshore technology without alternatives being properly scrutinised. The plans also do not set out how Essex will benefit from the project, nor what social value or community benefit funding will be available to the county if it goes ahead.
A significant impact on the highways network throughout Essex is also expected if the project is agreed as developers use the county’s roads and public rights of way to access key sites.
ECC councillor Lesley Wagland, who has responsibility for major infrastructure projects, said: “The plans are not just for pylons, cabling and substations, but what appears to be a temporary road network simply to allow developers access to the land needed for this project.”
She added: “This in turn will churn up the green belt, undermine the viability of much-needed high quality local housing, worsen the condition of our roads and risk bringing Essex to a standstill, when the need for this project on National Grid’s current timetable remains unproven.”
