National Grid's East Anglia GREEN non-statutory consultation:
A number of South Suffolk villages could be directly affected by National Grid’s proposals for a new line of 400kv pylons, as part of their scheme called ‘East Anglia GREEN’.
National Grid are holding a public consultation on the proposals, which expires on 16th June. My draft response to the consultation can be found here: www.jamescartlidge.com/pylons. Please be aware that I may update this before the deadline. The problem with the consultation is that it’s very narrow, focusing simply on a narrow strip of countryside - called a ‘swathe’ - for potentially siting the new run of pylons.
Whereas, since 2020, I’ve been campaigning for an offshore grid, and like many of my constituents I feel that we should maximise offshore transmission. This is not ‘science fiction’, as we already have large undersea electrical cables for this precise purpose, and the Government has accepted the case for an offshore grid. Thus, in that context, along with five Parliamentary colleagues, I wrote to Energy Minister Greg Hands MP on the 20th May asking that the consultation be broadened to include offshore options. A copy of this letter can be found at the bottom of this page.
A decision has been taken by National Grid to choose the overland ‘swathe’ route from Norwich to Tilbury, explicitly against the option of an undersea link – I feel local people should have a say on that top-level decision too.
I would urge all of my affected constituents to respond to National Grid’s consultation before it closes on Thursday 16th June. The consultation can be found here: www.nationalgrid.com/electricity-transmission/network-and-infrastructure/infrastructure-projects/east-anglia-green
