Proposals to extend overhead power cables and add more pylons to a run in South Holland have not been objected to by South Holland District Council.
Two separate planning applications relating to Spalding Tee-Point, Surfleet Seas End and Moulton Seas End were submitted to South Holland District Council.
Both applications are due to be discussed by the planning committee on Wednesday and planning officers have put forward no objections nor called for a public inquiry.
Both proposals include associated construction works and a haul road. They are both on Grade I agricultural land – classified as Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land.
The first application will see reconfiguration of an existing 400kV overhead line to turn into the yet-to-be-built Weston Marsh Substation A.
The work will result in the addition of one new pylon and around 70m of overhead line.
A second application would see the addition of two new pylons and around 170m of overhead line.
Together, the 240m is about the length of two-and-a-half football pitches.
Both applications will have to go before the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero. South Holland District Council is a consultee on both applications.
A total of 42 objections were received for the first application and 40 for the second. Among those were Lincolnshire Against Needless Destruction (LAND) and Meridian Action Group (MAG).
They said that there was project fragmentation between different consenting regimes and the permanent loss of Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land.
They also said the procedure was premature as the Weston Marsh Substation had yet to be applied for.
The report to members of the planning committee says that comments were awaited from the parish councils of Weston, Moulton and Surfleet.
The district council is only to indicate if it had any objections or if there should be any conditions.
It also could call for a public inquiry.
“The new Weston Marsh Substation A and associated overhead line works are required to provide the connection of the Outer Dowsing Offshore Windfarm to the National Electricity Transmission System,” says the report.
The windfarm, 33 miles off the coast of Lincolnshire, will be one of the biggest in the country.
It aims to be online by 2030 and delivering 50GW of wind-power. It will have an operational life of 30 years. It is being developed jointly by TotalEnergies and Corio Generation and Gulf Energy Development.
The applications are separate from a major scheme to upgrade the Grimsby to Walpole network which will include connecting new sources of electricity both wind, solar and gas-fired.
The main application is not expected to be submitted next summer with a decision due in 2028.
Should it receive approval, work will start the same year with work continuing to 2033 when the line should be fully operational.
It will include connections to Outer Dowsing including the upgrades outlined in the current applications.
The section will see 140km (87 miles) of overhead line between Grimsby and Walpole in Norfolk carried by a legion of pylons.
The proposal has faced a barrage of complaints about the intrusion of huge pylons across the flat, open countryside of the Fens area. But National Grid has maintained that burying the cables would be too expensive.
But it has said the height of 50m pylons will be reduced to 36m in certain areas.
The upgrade will include five new substations along the route.
Full details can be found at the website www.outerdowsing.com
