Calls for consultation rethink

Concerns have been raised about the completeness of the Consultation information provided. Members of the public, parish councils and other interested parties will be unable to fully assess the proposals and alternatives at a time when many are on holiday and with Councils unable to make formal representations before September.

Councillor Lisa Neal has written to National Grid, highlighting South Norfolk Council’s concerns over the company’s Norwich to Tilbury scheme and calls for the consultation period to be extended. She also queried why information regarding options for complete or partial burying of the lines and accurate information about why an offshore implementation has not featured.

The National Grid proposals would see a new 400kV electricity transmission line built between Norwich and Tilbury, running a distance of 111 miles. It will be made up of over 500 overhead line and 50m high pylons with a short distance of underground cables in Essex.

Councillor Neal said:

“It is vital that any consultation held is robust and meaningful and allows for all interested parties to take an active part. It is imperative that we ensure everyone has an opportunity to respond, especially as we now know where National Grid plan to site the pylons. Holding this consultation during July and August, when many people take their holidays and at a time when few parish councils have meetings must raise questions about how serious National Grid is in listening to the views of local people. “National grid must also answer the question of why an off-shore option is not part of the consultation. Apparently, the company can run a cable under water from Scotland to Yorkshire, the Eastern Green Link 2 scheme, but not around the East Anglian coast.”

In the letter to National Grid, Councillor Neal writes:

“Whilst South Norfolk Council remains fully committed to our net-zero ambitions; recognise the importance of the diversification of UK energy supplies; the reduction of the UK’s reliance on imported energy and ongoing energy security, we strongly believe there should be a greater level of scrutiny and consideration given to an offshore transmission option. A greater balance needs to be reached to enable the infrastructure to be provided to accommodate the new energy generation, without the resulting significant detrimental impact on our residents, businesses, and the local environment, that the on-shore overhead lines and pylons will unquestionably cause. “I also consider that National Grid should produce a summary document showing why underground cabling is not possible, giving examples of the cost of underground and overhead for a certain area that South Norfolk residents would know rather than for the scheme as a whole.”

The consultation opened in late June and closes on 21 August 2023.