Villagers in West Walton and the Walpoles protest as deadline date looms for pylons consultation

Villagers in the West Walton and Walpole areas are mounting a campaign against a proposal for 87 miles of overhead electricity lines from Lincolnshire to West Norfolk.

Leaflets are being distributed through villages and people are being urged by campaigners to make their views known before next week’s March 13 consultation deadline.

National Grid is planning the overhead lines on pylons from Grimsby to the Walpole sub station as part of infrastructure to provide energy.

Campaigners say the 50m-high pylons would be as tall as 16-storey blocks of flats in most parts and would be 330 metres apart.

They say: “Giant, noisy pylons would have a massive impact on the landscape, environment, natural habitats, tourism and agriculture – driving down the local economy, impacting the quality of life for many people.”

A “No Pylons or Substations West Walton, Walton Highway” group has been set up on Facebook with some residents commenting they have written to South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss about the issue.

Campaigners in neighbouring Lincolnshire launched a No Pylons Lincolnshire group which has been has been analysing available information to fully assess the impact of National Grid’s plan for their Lincolnshire and claim it is “huge”.

They say the pylon route through Lincolnshire is a “means to an end” which will see more than 17,000 acres of land “gobbled up in associated substations, transformers, solar farms battery and hydrogen storage and new gas-fired power stations”.

They say much of this land is grade one arable land - the finest food-growing land in the country.

They say Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said recently: “We need to increase food production, food security is really important and we need to protect our prime agricultural land for that purpose.”

The National Grid proposals are in the first-stage public consultation stage and are subject to planning approval.

Cat Makinson, of No Pylons Lincolnshire, said: “We are all for green energy and fully supportive of net zero goals; but that which can be produced and carried offshore is by far the best solution to the energy and farming crisis.

“This is not just about power from offshore wind farms connecting to a pylon chain through Lincolnshire from Grimsby to Walpole. It’s much, much bigger than that. It’s about all the land-based infrastructure - solar farms, battery storage, power stations and hydrogen plants - that the new overland line will attract. And it is not yet clear how all this new infrastructure will connect to the new substations.

“This will impact many thousands and not just those who might be close to the pylons route and decision makers cannot look at the pylons plan inisolation.

“We are calling for joined-up decision making that properly balances the needs of agriculture and energy and is respectful of communities in Lincolnshire. We aim to persuade government to take a closer look at the offshore alternatives.”

You can also sign a petition at https://www.change.org/p/halt-the-installation-of-giant-power-lines-in-lincolnshire-s-beautiful-landscapes

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