Local approval has been granted for an electricity substation near Donington that one councillor described as being larger than Wembley Stadium.
It’s among the facilities needed for the National Grid’s Viking Link project which will allow the UK and Denmark to trade electricity.
Concerns have been raised about the development’s effect on the landscape with a petition signed by over 100 people concerned about the design and potential fencing surrounding the site.
Coun Rodney Grocock said: “People in Donington have been dreading this day. It’s a very rural area that’s proposed to have a building that’s bigger than Wembley Stadium slap bang in the middle of it. It’s unbelievable this is happening.
“But, because the Secretary of State will only call it in and because of various situations the people of Donington have realised they can’t object to this in principle.
“They object to the conditions.
“In 15 years National Grid say the building will be obscured by planting. I think the people of Donington deserve better than that and you can buy plants bigger than saplings to go in there in the first place.
“We’ve got to try better to hide this building. It’s so big you struggle to get your head around it.”
South Holland District Council’s planning committee voted unanimously for it to be passed after hearing finals designs and fencing situations could be amended at a later date.
The project still needs to be approved by three other local authorities whose land Viking Link will need to run cables through from the North Sea.
South Holland’s committee’s vice chair, James Avery said: “For me we have two options.
“We have some enormous infrastructure on the edge of Donington that’s in the interest of securing the country’s energy supply, or we have the potential of the lights going out at some stage.
“For me and my generation and future generations I’d like to think that, though we’re making a local decision, we’re also securing the long term future of the country and its power supply
“I think it’s a no-brainer.”
Liz Wells, Consents Manager from National Grid’s Viking Link, told the committee in support of the development: “The UK faces a substantial energy challenge and the scheme presented will provide a vital role in helping to resolve this challenge by linking the electricity systems of the UK and Denmark.
“We are conscious of the community concern expressed in the scale of the substation. The scale and height are driven by engineering requirements and the equipment needed to turn DC to AC current and the safety processes required.
“It does not seek an approval of a design at this stage. It seeks to demonstrate how design styles of the appearance could be applied within the parameters. It shows how a functional style could be displayed hypothetically.
“This will provide low carbon energy for over a million households.
Viking Link is committed to being a good neighbour that fully understands and will act upon its responsibility to the local community with regard to the construction and operation of Viking Link.”
