Essex villages continue campaign against pylon schemes

The pylons will stretch from Norwich through Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex to Tilbury if they are given the green light.

The consultation ends today at midnight.

Charlie Penton, a 77-year-old resident in Little Bromley, is part of the Essex Suffolk and Norfolk pylons campaign.

He said: “There are three other energy schemes in the area of Clacton, and each of them wants to build a massive substation in between Little Bromley and Ardleigh.”

The proposals include underground cables which will make landfall near Frinton.

The campaigners argue that none of the power will benefit any locations along the cable routes, and they are increasingly concerned about the effect on the local area during the building work.

Charlie continued: “It’s a multifaceted concern.

“These schemes want to rip out trees, hedges and there’s a possibility they might also rip out the war memorial in the village, so they can widen the road to fit heavy vehicles through.

“It’s an obscene scheme. We have campaigners trying to get the war memorial categorised as an ancient monument to give it legal protection.”

Signs- Local campaign groups have sprung up all over Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, with orange signs lining the road and strung up on the sides of barns in the countryside. (Image: Claudia Bradley)

A spokesman for National Grid said: “Norwich to Tilbury is needed urgently to connect new green energy to the grid to ensure homes and businesses in Essex and across the country can benefit from more affordable, cleaner electricity.

“There is no fully offshore solution to connect offshore wind to the grid in any country, and building a new network to connect cheaper, cleaner electricity is the only way to bring energy bills down long term.

“We are very grateful to everyone who has already shared their views with us, and we encourage people to view our plans and submit feedback until the public consultation closes on July 26.”

National Grid said 80 per cent of power demand comes from outside of London, with the energy brought to the UK via Norwich to Tilbury set to be distributed across the UK by the Electricity System Operator.

The purpose of Norwich to Tilbury and other projects forming The Great Grid Upgrade is to bolster the security of Great Britain’s energy supply rather than specific areas of the country. 

National Grid’s public consultation closes at 11.59pm tonight and can be found here.