A campaign group has been set up to oppose plans for a new electric pylon and cables route that’s proposed to go through South Holland.
No Pylons Lincolnshire says it has gathered 2,000 supporters in just a few days after launching on Facebook.
There’s been opposition to National Grid’s plan to create a new 87-mile connection between Grimsby and Walpole.
The company has stated it wants the cables to be overhead because it’s cheaper than putting them underground.
No Pylons Lincolnshire is arguing it should be ‘an offshore integrated grid’.
The group’s Andrew Malkin, who lives in Moulton, said: “An offshore integrated grid would be better, faster and cheaper than pylons.
“It also future-proofs, ready for more wind turbines out at sea coming online.”
He continued: “Alone we are just ‘skint little people’, but recent events have shown that in a David and Goliath battle like this people power can come to the fore and the skint little people can win. Please make your opposition to pylons known while you have the chance.”
A spokesman for No Pylons said: “Only people close to the corridor chosen by National Grid for the pylons have so far received consultation material from National Grid, but anyone concerned about 50-metre tall pylons – equivalent to 15-storey buildings or as tall as Nelson’s Column –can make their views known.
“Campaigners against similar pylon plans for Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk have been fighting National Grid proposals for the past two years and No Pylons Lincolnshire agrees with their assessment that an integrated offshore grid would be faster, better and cheaper.”
No Pylons Lincolnshire founder Cat Makinson said: “We are incredibly busy gathering information and evidence to press for the undersea option.
“National Grid has opted for what it believes is the cheapest option, but it is the most environmentally-damaging.
“Our focus at the moment is to get the public to engage in the current consultation process and make their views known to National Grid before the deadline of March 13 which it has set.
“We fully support the generation of green and renewable energy, but object to trashing the landscape in order to then deliver it to us when there is an affordable and viable alternative option.
“National Grid is a private foreign-owned company which does this work for profit. In the past five years it has paid its shareholders almost £9 billion.
“It will earn from these cables for decades as its customers, the energy generators, pay National Grid to use them, so it can afford to do the right environmental thing and put this under the sea and not maximise its profits and trashing our landscape in the process.”
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three councils that make up the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership, including South Holland District Council leader Nick Worth released a statement.
It reads: “We recognise the national importance of major energy projects like this to help improve our infrastructure and tackle the energy crisis we are currently seeing, as well as to create greater grid capacity and investment opportunities in our own sub-region.
“However, the major impact these plans could have on our communities and environment cannot be ignored, and we are pleased to see consultation taking place in these early stages to receive feedback before any further steps are taken.
“We hope that we can continue to be actively involved in any future plans, and that all possible alternative options and views are considered, including the possibility of underground installation.
“The greater cost of this compared to overhead pylons must be weighed by National Grid against the need to protect our environment, the amenity of our residents and communities, and the devastating impact the proposals threaten to have on a £500 million local tourism industry.
“It is important that all available steps are taken to help minimise the impact on our residents and businesses and protect the unique character of South and East Lincolnshire. Most importantly, we would encourage everyone with an interest or an opinion to get involved, make sure they attend the online or in-person events, and provide their thoughts to ensure that our voice is heard on this significant project.”
