A STRONG appeal has been issued for members of the public to make their voices heard over plans for giant pylons to carry electricity through the county.
It comes after the National Grid announced details of 27 community information events during which it will invite people to find out more about its proposals for the North West Coast Connections project. The scheme involves connecting the region’s new sources of electricity to the grid.
In June, the company announced its proposed path for the pylons to mark. The preferred route runs overland through West Cumbria, passing Broughton and Dalton before crossing Morecambe Bay through a tunnel at Rampside.
But those opposed to the existing proposals say the public influence could still be important in pushing forward other options.
Graham Pitts, chairman of Power without Pylons action group, said: “We would encourage everybody to go these events, to form an opinion about whether they want these pylons placing there and to ask about options that there are. Because there are still options for going under the Duddon, there are still options for tunneling, there are still options for gas insulated lines and, of course, there is the way to avoid it all and go offshore.
“These pylons will be as high as Barrow Town Hall, and they won’t just be visible from your house. It’s when you’re going to school, when you’re driving along the A590, when you’re looking across to Millom. It’s all over the place.”
Reducing the impact of the plans on the landscape is part of the next stage of development that the NWCC project has now entered. It will also establish an exact line for the new collections and consider which technologies to use to build it.
Project manager, Robert Powell, said: “We’ve already carried out detailed studies to help us determine an initial design for the new connection. This design will change and evolve in the coming months as we take into account different environmental and land-use issues that will influence where a new connection can be built.
“We’re working with landowners, councils, and specialist groups to get more information.
“In addition to this ongoing dialogue, we’re continuing to engage with local communities and individuals in the coming months. These information events provide an ideal opportunity for people to come along and learn more about our proposals while giving us the chance to build on our understanding of what is important to them.”
The NWCC project will go to formal public consultation in 2016, before a planning application is made in 2017.
If consent is granted by the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, construction work is expected to start in 2019.
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