September 26, 2013
England, Wales

Council votes to stand firm on windfarms

Shropshire Star | September 26, 2013 | www.shropshirestar.com

Councillors have slammed National Grid plans to connect proposed windfarms in Mid Wales to the electricity supply in Shropshire.

Welshpool Town Council agreed to stand firm and continue to oppose the plans despite National Grid announcing last week that it will bury eight miles of electricity cables underground.

At a meeting yesterday, councillors backed their current stance to oppose the plans vehemently on the grounds that communities across the area will still be affected.

National Grid announced it plans to bury eight of the 33 miles of 400 kv line that will be needed if windfarm developers win permission to build a network of sites across north Powys through the Meifod valley between Welshpool and Oswestry.

But the remaining 23 miles will stay overground – although the line could be carried on the new ‘T-pylons’ that are 50 feet shorter than traditional structures.

It will cross the Shropshire border skirting Oswestry to tap into the northsouth 400 kv line at Lower Frankton near Ellesmere.

The exact route has not been plotted as consultation with local communities and landowners is ongoing. But the company insisted overhead lines would be kept away from villages and hills and trees would be used to keep visual impact to a minimum.

But Robert Robinson, Welshpool town clerk, said: “We were fully prepared for somewhere around 25 per cent to be buried underground. A man from Meifod actually said to me ‘well it’s a victory’ but I don’t think it is anything of the sort. What about Pant? What about Llanymynech? Maesbury? All the other villages and areas affected by the route?

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/09/26/council-votes-to-stand-firm-on-windfarms/