Public meeting in Oswestry about National Grid pylon plans
People affected by proposals that could see powerlines being carried through Shropshire and Powys are being urged to attend a public meeting in Oswestry on Friday 24 January 2014.
The meeting will take place at The Venue, Park Hall, Oswestry, at 6pm and has been organised by the Leader of Shropshire Council, Keith Barrow.
Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for environment and MP for north Shropshire, is due to be at the meeting, and people and interest groups from both sides of the border are invited to attend.
National Grid has announced that electricity cables connecting wind farms in Mid Wales to the electricity network are set to pass through Shropshire, from a new substation at Cefn Coch in Powys to join the existing 400kv network at Lower Frankton.
Under this proposal, powerlines would enter Shropshire just south of Llanymynech Heritage Area and then be routed in a north easterly direction to Lower Frankton.
Councillor Keith Barrow said:
“I’m strongly opposed to any plans that would see pylons springing up across large areas of the Shropshire countryside. The pylons would be over 70 metres high, much larger than the ones we see around the county at present, and would have a negative impact on the landscape, on local communities, and on the county’s economy. I urge all like-minded people living in the area to come to this meeting, and help us to demonstrate to National Grid the strength of feeling against these proposals.
“It’s really important that we all – councillors and local people – let National Grid know what we think about their proposals, and I urge everyone living in the affected areas to come along to this meeting to find out more and, more importantly, to let us know what they think.”
In its official response to National Grid’s public consultation in June 2011, Shropshire Council recognised that National Grid is required to connect new windfarms to the network but said that the council would object to any overhead line solution, which it considered to be significantly detrimental to the county’s visitor economy.
Once National Grid’s planning application is ready, it will be submitted to the National Infrastructure Directorate and Shropshire Council will be invited to submit its formal response to the application, as a statutory consultee.
People can help to shape Shropshire Council’s response by attending this meeting, or by sending an email to midwalesconnection@shropshire.gov.uk.
