January 25, 2012
England

Campaigners defeat plans for electrical substation and pylons on Lincolnshire coast

East Coast Target, www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk 25 January 2012

Delighted campaigners have won a dramatic victory following the announcement there will not be an electricity substation in the area.

In January last year, RWE npower renewables suspended work on its plans for an onshore electrical connection on the east coast, after National Grid said it was to look at alternative options.

The company, which is behind proposals for the Triton Knoll wind farm off the coast of Mablethorpe, had been consulting on plans for a 40-acre substation at either Sloothby, Monksthorpe or Welton Le Marsh but say they will now use underground cabling to connect to an existing site at Bicker Fen.

Campaigners fought a tough battle to stop the substation and anticipated associated pylon connections from destroying the beauty of the Lincolnshire Wolds.

MPs Mark Simmonds, Sir Peter Tapsell, East Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire County Council all backed their efforts in a bid to block plans.

Substation campaigner Angie Smith said: “I’m delighted by the announcement that our area is not going to be blighted by the inappropriate location of the country’s largest electrical substation and a huge pylon network.

“It would have been a disaster for our area if this had gone ahead.

“These villages would have died as no one would ever have moved into them, the character of the local landscape would have been turned into an industrial wasteland, and there was a real threat to our local tourism.

“The amount of community engagement with the campaign against this proposal has been overwhelming and absolutely essential. It has been a fantastic team effort that has shown that localism works.”

Development manager for Triton Knoll, Jacob Hain, said: “We have worked closely with National Grid over the past year on the strategic review.

“It has now issued us an offer to connect Triton Knoll to the existing electricity transmission system at Bicker Fen substation, south-west of Boston.

“This revised offer assumes there would be an underground direct current connection installed between Bicker Fen substation and Triton Knoll.

“We will work alongside National Grid and undertake further technical and design studies to understand what the electrical system will comprise. We will also commence environmental and engineering studies to find the best potential sites and routes for the electrical infrastructure.”

National Grid confirmed to the Target that it had made an offer to RWE and would continue to work closely with the company.

Lincoln County Councillor for Ingoldmells and chairman of the environmental scrutiny committee, Colin Davie, has supported the campaigners throughout the past few months.

He said: “This decision is a victory for all those who came to the public meetings and lobbied. It is a great result for localism.

“The county council with both our MPs, Sir Peter Tapsell and Mark Simmonds was determined not just to support the communities affected, but to make a stand to protect our county and our communities from these devastating proposals. I am pleased that I was able to play my part, but this victory belongs to the hundreds of ordinary residents who campaigned so hard.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/25/campaigners-defeat-plans-for-electrical-substation-and-pylons-on-lincolnshire-coast/