August 1, 2012
England, Wales

Protesters say no to huge pylons across region

Shropshire Star | www.shropshirestar.com 1 August 2012

More than 300 campaigners, furious at plans to build a 30-mile long high voltage power line across parts of Shropshire and Mid Wales, gathered to warn National Grid bosses: ‘Now the fight begins’.

People from across the region flocked to the Cefn Coch yesterday afternoon to voice their disgust after National Grid revealed it wants to install the 400,000-volt line from a new substation in the village, near Llanfair Caereinion, to an existing transition cable in Lower Frankton, near Oswestry.

It will link windfarms in Mid Wales to England’s national power network and could cost up to £562 million to build, depending on how much of the route is put underground.

Campaigners waving banners and carrying posters chanted ‘no hub here’ during the gathering and said the power line would destroy the countryside.

Huw Morgan, from Llangadfan, near Welshpool, said: “It is a black day for Montgomeryshire and Shropshire, absolutely devastating, it will destroy us.

“These pylons and the turbines are absolutely massive, the biggest around and it is so upsetting for this lovely area.”

Following yesterday’s announcement, Selby Martin, vice-president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England in Shropshire, questioned why the whole route couldn’t be underground after Ofgem recently confirmed that it was setting aside £470 million to bury cables in sensitive areas.

“We completely deplore the construction of overhead pylons across the Shropshire countryside,” he said.