Representation by Villages Against Pylons (Villages Against Pylons)
- Date submitted
- 15 June 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Villages Against Pylons is a campaign group located in the North Colchester area representing some 500 or so households located in the villages of Fordham, Little Horkesley, Great Horkesley, Boxted and Langham in or around the Dedham Vale National Landscape. National Grid and ESO have confirmed that the planned East Anglia Connection Node is required only because of two Windfarms (Five Estuaries, North Falls) and one interconnector (Tarchon). The EACN is proposed to be located in Tendring. New network reinforcement is required in order to reach the EACN. The (according to National Grid only plausible) location of the EACN is highly constrained abutting a Scheduled Monument and being in close proximity to the Dedham Vale. This dictates that cables into the EACN must cross the Dedham Vale National Landscape which will be hugely damaging. The route out from the EACN is proposed to enforce the village of Ardleigh take a line of 50m tall pylons along the southern border of the National Landscape. These pylons will be seen across a huge swathe of the Dedham Vale and will also frame its setting - every major ingress road fro the south must pass beneath them. This too is hugely damaging. NPS-EN5 states that in respect of the protected landscape even residual impacts are unacceptable in planning terms. National grid have stated that due to location technical constraints preclude mitigation and recognise that very significant damage will occur. The proposed point of connection is unsuitable and contrary to the requirements set out in NPS-EN5. This proposal must be seen together with the additional infrastructure in Tendring and North Colchester which it necessitates. Given the extremely strong linkage described by National Grid and causal nature they must be seen and assessed together. At the same time, the two Windfarms (Five Estuaries, North Falls) have volunteered to connect offshore to Sealink under the framework set out in the Offshore Coordination Support Scheme. The Tarchon interconnector has been demonstrated to be damaging to the U.K. national interest. For full details see the letter on this subject sent by Sir Bernard Jenkin MP to Ofgem in response to their consultation. It is imperative that the current proposal does not go ahead in the manner currently proposed. There is a valid, credible alternative which the scheme promoter is happy to adopt. It MUST therefore connect offshore to Sealink as per the alternative proposals. Doing so will prevent enormous and lasting damage to a large section of protected National Landscape.