When writing this, I have just returned from the Meridian Solar Farm Planning Inspectorate meeting in Peterborough – a very interesting two days!
This project is for the huge solar farm, which is being planned south of Spalding and spanning across the Fens and taking up 2,700 acres of valuable agricultural land and planned to connect into Weston Marsh by huge overhead cablings and pylons.
We have also coming to Weston Marsh:
lTwo National Grid huge substations totalling over 46 acres, although actual area taken up for the finished projects indicate that the total acreage will be much larger than this. These two substations are approx. 1,300 meters apart and are connected to each other by underground cabling.
lExtra row of pylons on top of what we already have planned as part of the Grimsby to Walpole route.
lAnother route of pylons from Weston Marsh B to East Leicestershire spanning the River Welland and over through Surfleet and onwards to Leicestershire.
lUnderground cabling in connection with EGL3 and 4
lUnderground cabling connecting the Outer Dowsing converter station at Surfleet to a connection point at Substation A.
Projects of this type are happening all over the country and there are many campaign groups and concerned residents ‘fighting’ these.
Can I please stress that we are not ‘NIMBYs’ but people who are concerned about their local areas, the environment, wildlife – so many issues!
Our main concerns for South Holland:
lPrimarily, the loss of the valuable agricultural land. A lot of it is good Grade 1 land, used for the double cropping of vegetables – for non-farmers this means two crops are grown in one year. No time is more important than now for food security for the country. Loss of agricultural land is sacrilege!
lA huge blot on the flat landscape of South Holland turning our area into that of a massive industrial area and not that of the rural area that we all love.
lMassive disruption for several years with huge amounts of construction and workers vehicles coming to the various sites every day of the week. Our country lanes are unsuitable for all this traffic – particularly at Weston concerns have to be raised for the A151 at the Weston turning into Stonegate and also the road to Spalding and it’s roundabout near McDonalds.
lDust from the construction and vehicles.
lAnimals and wildlife – how many can you think of that will lose their natural habitat? One day earlier this year we found three dead swans that had flown into overhead cables.
lConcerns for the health impacts of so many residents.
lDevaluation of house prices.
lConcerns for the flooding and drainage of our area.
There are so many issues – I could go on.
For four years I have been working to highlight what is to be planned – and believe me there are and could well be other projects lurking in the background waiting to appear – more solar projects, BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems) etc!
We are trying to protect our area for our friends, neighbours, residents and future generations. There are still a lot of people out there who do not realise what is destined to come.
What can you do?
lSpread the word, attend relevant meetings, consultation meetings and please comment on any proposal. People say to me ‘they won’t listen to you’ – but, believe me, they do. The residents of Weston Marsh have made observations and suggestions to National Grid and, where possible, their comments have been taken into consideration.
lCheck on your friends and neighbours – there are a lot of people who are really worried and concerned about these projects.
lJoin social media groups such as NO PYLONS LINCS ,LAND (Lincolnshire against Needless Destruction) and Meridian Action Group (MAG). These groups will help you to understand these projects and how to make your comments to the various bodies.
lEmail or write to our MP, Sir John Hayes, who is instrumental to all our concerns. Talk to our local councillors.
There is a National Grid consultation event about the Weston Marsh to East Leicestershire route of pylons at Weston Village Hall today (Thursday) from 2pm to 7pm. Another at Surfleet Village Hall on Thursday, October 15th from 10am to 4.30pm.
We are not against net zero but there are other options that could be considered.
Jenny Pennington
Weston Marsh
