'Make them listen': Communities urged to take part in consultation

The electricity company has launched a second round of consultations on two pylon lines running through the county – the 140km Grimsby to Walpole route, and another route through the south of Lincolnshire from Weston Marsh in South Holland to East Leicestershire.

Coun Sean Matthews, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We need to make National Grid listen to Lincolnshire. If you live in this area, work here or love to visit it, you’ll understand the enormous scar these pylons would leave on our landscape.

“The council is putting together its own response to the consultation, and I know that residents are hugely against these plans from speaking to people on the doorstep, and the survey that the council did last year. So I urge everyone to complete the National Grid surveys, visit an information event and make their voice heard.

“I’ll be at some of these events myself to speak to residents and to National Grid, to make sure they get the message loud and clear: leave Lincolnshire alone.

“If National Grid continue to push ahead with these ridiculous plans and completely ignore the massive public opposition, I’ll stand in front of the bulldozers if I have to.”

Coun Danny Brookes, Executive Councillor for the Environment, who is also a town and district councillor for the coastal strip that would be affected, underlined the importance of communities taking part in the consultation.

"I support strengthening Britain’s energy network but not by industrialising our countryside.” he told Lincolnshire World.

"The proposed line of pylons from Grimsby to Walpole would scar some of our most valued rural landscapes, impact local communities and undermine tourism and agriculture.

“These plans are just about moving electricity over the county – it’s not actually going to support our homes and our businesses. And they’ll have a snowball effect; building these enormous substations will just attract more developers looking to cover the county in solar parks or wind farms.

“I understand that overhead cables and pylons are National Grid’s first choice – they claim they’re cheaper – but elsewhere they’re putting cables out at sea, so clearly it’s not their only option. Why isn’t this an option for Lincolnshire?

“For the Grimsby to Walpole route, National Grid claims to have taken feedback on board from their first round of consultation. From what I can see, this is mostly just making a very small number of pylons a little lower.

“That’s not listening. That’s not what residents want. Continue putting these cables out at sea or bury them under the ground, and stop threatening our tourism industry, our natural environment and the future of our county.”

Andrew Malkin, of the No Pylons Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire Against Needless Destruction (LAND) campaign groups, said: “We are currently analysing all the details released by National Grid.

"it appears they have made some small token gestures to suggest they care about our views.

"It is disappointing that the only substantial changes to the plan are the devastating inclusion of a second substation and another pylon line at Weston Marsh.

“Anyone receiving the consultation documents should visit our website www.nopylons.co.uk and join our facebook group No Pylons Lincolnshire.”

Both consultations are running until August 6. They are available to view on the National Grid website at https://www.nationalgrid.com