Somerset Alliance against Pylons (SAAP) has been formed in response to National Grid’s proposal to install a series of 42m high overhead power lines from Bridgwater to Seabank (in Bristol). SAAP is a new and combined group made up of a conglomeration of the smaller individual groups along the line to form one larger alliance/group to raise the profile of National Grid’s proposal.

Visit the SAAP site here: www.saap.org.uk

Apologies for the delay in updating the YAP website following National Grid’s announcement of their ‘preferred’ route corridor for the Hinkely C connection project, but after 2 years of waiting for their decision, it was harder than we thought to put down in words a response to their announcement. You will no doubt be aware that for the most part corridor 1A has been chosen, with sections of the route adopting corridor 2 – predictably a mixture of both routes with the ‘possibility’ that some of it may be undergrounded. For Yatton, this means that the proposed overhead line will broadly follow the existing path of 132kv pylons, the existing line will be taken down.

Although the announcement of National Grid’s preferred route corridor is a milestone, it is by no means the closing chapter as we must not forget the proposed new pylons are almost twice the size of the existing ones – in terms of both height and width! You may have noticed the cover of National Grid’s route announcement pamphlet – beautiful Somerset countryside, without a pylon in sight; turn to the inside pages and the pylons featured are half the size of the giant pylons we can expect if their proposals go ahead! Even at this stage in the process, National Grid cannot be honest with us.

We still have a long and hard fight ahead of us to campaign for the ENTIRE route to be put underground or undersea – all of the campaign groups are united in this aim. We will keep you up to date via the website.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Yatton Against Pylons

National Grid today announced their decision for their choice of route for the proposed new Hinkley C connection through North Somerset. The route will predominantly follow route corridor 1A with some variations onto corridor 2 as outlined in National Grid’s public ‘consultation’. With respect to Yatton specifically it seems that the pylons will follow the route of the existing power lines to the west of the village.

National Grid’s announcement reported by Weston Mercury here: http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/pylon_route_announced_1_1074623

National Grid’s official announcement and proposed route map is here: http://www.hinkleyconnection.co.uk/bridgwater-to-seabank-connection.aspx

As you may be aware NG will announce their preferred route corridor for the Hinkley C Connection this Thursday 29th September.
Please find below an extract from NG’s recent email advising of the above:

“Good afternoon
Hinkley Point C Connection Project
Since the close of Stage 1 Consultation on the Hinkley Point C Connection Project, we have been carefully reviewing over 8,000 individual pieces of feedback to help ensure that we take forward the most appropriate connection option. I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to provide feedback, it has been extremely valuable.
We are now in a position to make a preferred route corridor announcement on Thursday 29th September and would like to personally invite you to one of two briefing events that we are holding specifically for officers, members and MPs on this day. Details are as follows:
* The Exchange, Express Park, Bridgwater, TA6 4RR, 29th September, 10 am for 10.30 am start.
* Double Tree by Hilton, Cadbury House, Frost Hill, Congresbury, Bristol BS49 5AD, 29th September, 14.30 pm for 15.00pm start.
At the briefing events, we will explain in more detail our decision, how it was made and the next steps. We are also hoping to offer a meeting specifically with your Council and we will provide more information regarding this in the near future.
To confirm your attendance at one of the events, please call the Community Relations Team on 0800 377 7347 or send an email to: hinkleyconnection@uk.ngrid.com.
If you are unable to attend but would like to receive further information, or talk to a member of the Community Relations Team please do get in touch with us via the number and email above.
Yours sincerely
Peter Bryant
Senior Project Manager”

Please note that neither the Parish Council or public (or reps from the campaign groups) have been invited to attend the event (but don’t let that stop you being in the vicinity!). NG will write to householders around the 29th to advise them of the outcome of their ‘consultation’ and the information will also be available on their website.

We wait with bated breath as to their decision – nearly 2 years on from when residents were first written to regarding the Hinkley C connection project. Thank you for everything you have done to support our campaign to keep North Somerset and the surrounding countryside free of giant pylons.

The announcement on Thursday is a key landmark in the process to date but is by no means the closing chapter; we are not giving up and with your ongoing support will continue to fight for the preservation of our countryside, communities and our well being for today and for generations to come.

Please take a moment to read the email below from Stour Valley Underground; in particular please support Tessa Munt’s ‘Electricity Transmission (Protection of Landscape)’ bill which receives its second reading in the House of Commons in November.

The Government today published its finalised National Policy Statements for energy(NPSs) in advance of a debate in Parliament. This follows an extensive public consultation earlier this year which received over two and a half thousand responses, Parliamentary Scrutiny of the revised draft energy national policy statement, and the outputs of the interim report of the Chief Nuclear Inspector, Dr Mike Weightman, on lessons to be learned from events at Fukushima.

The NPSs form a key part of our plans to move to a low carbon future while protecting the security of the UK’s energy supplies. NPSs will provide market certainty by giving developers confidence to bring forward applications to build the infrastructure we need. This will ensure the UK has diverse sources of generation and remains at the forefront of low carbon technological development, and in turn will enable us to generate jobs and growth in this rapidly expanding sector.

NPSs do this by setting out the need for new energy infrastructure, including electricity from a mixed portfolio of all types of generation. They provide a clear framework for decision making on planning applications for major energy infrastructure, whilst protecting local communities from unacceptable impacts.

The Nuclea rNPS (EN-6) lists the eight sites the Government has identified as potentially suitable for the deployment of new nuclear power stations by 2025. The eight sites are: Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, South Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; and Wylfa in Anglesey. Dungeness in Kent and Braystones and Kirksanton in Cumbria have been confirmed as not potentially suitable.

The Government is also today publishing a Government response to the latest consultation; a response to Parliamentary scrutiny; a draft of the Post Adoption Statement on the Appraisals of Sustainability (AoS) which informed the drafting of the NPSs; and the monitoring strategy which sets out how we will monitor the significant environmental effects of implementation of the NPSs. Copies of all these documents along with the finalised NPSs and AoSs are available at http://www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk.

The Government’s final proposed energy NPSs will be debated in Parliament and voted on. If approved we intend to designate as soon as possible afterwards.

National grid has today announced that it will end the current undergrounding consultation earlier than expected and before the publication of the independent report by KEMA on the comparative costs of pylons vs. subsea and underground alternatives. In the announcement, National Grid have specifically chosen not to comment on how the consultation will now affect ongoing connection projects such as Hinkley C. Their email announcement follows verbatim:

Good Afternoon,

As you are aware, National Grid is currently consulting industry, government, non-governmental and environmental stakeholders as well as members of the public so that they can help shape how the company decides when to include underground sections within new transmission line proposals.

Previously, National Grid had planned to close this consultation after the publication of an independent report by the consultancy KEMA, which was to provide an authoritative reference point on the comparative costs of installing new high-voltage transmission power routes under the ground, sub-sea or as overhead lines.

However, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has recently announced that insufficient data has been provided to KEMA to enable them to complete this report. Arrangements are being put in place for further stages of the costs work to be taken forward. Another announcement will be made by the IET once the process and timescales for this next stage of work have been established. It is expected that a final analysis will be published later this year.

We would have liked to have had access to the final analysis of undergrounding costs before we further developed our new approach. However, we believe we now need to provide clarity of our approach to undergrounding to all involved in our major projects across England and Wales. Therefore we have decided to close the undergrounding consultation on Monday 4 July 2011, and expect to publish our revised approach to undergrounding later this summer.

We have received a significant amount of useful and valuable feedback on our consultation so far, for which we thank all those who have contributed. We will review all feedback received before the closing date and this will inform our revised approach to undergrounding.

When the IET study is available we will look very carefully at the final analysis of undergrounding costs and review our approach in light of any new findings.

Unfortunately we are not able to comment on how this announcement will affect the progress of current connection projects. If you would like information regarding these, please contact the appropriate community relations team, which can be found via the following link: http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/MajorProjects/

Thank you for your interest in National Grid’s undergrounding consultation. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the undergrounding consultation by e-mailing me at info@nationalgridundergrounding.com or by calling 0800 319 6175.

Yours sincerely,
Jessica Stewart
On behalf of National Grid’s Undergrounding Consultation.

A BIG THANK YOU! to everyone who joined us for the Spring Walk along the Strawberry Line on Saturday – it was a wonderful morning and a true demonstration of community spirit and passion for protecting the countryside for generations to come.

We hope you enjoyed the morning and that you will visit the Strawberry Line (and cafe!) again soon even if you are not from the area.

Bristol Evening Post coverage of the event here: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Group-takes-steps-stop-power-line-plan/article-3459266-detail/article.html

North Somerset Mercury story here: http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/pylon_march_success_1_869878

Please don’t forget the Spring Walk along the Strawberry Line this Saturday 16th April – 10am start from the Strawberry Line Cafe. We will walk to Congresbury and back – although you are welcome to go further or nip back for a coffee and cake from the Cafe at any time! bikes…dogs…children welcome…

The Strawberry Line Cafe will be open from 9.30am if you fancy a coffee and some breakfast beforehand – also there is a £1.40 charge to park at Yatton Car Park for anyone driving.

Finally – don’t forget your BANNERS, (the SUNSHINE) and a SMILE – get set for a wonderful morning and show your PASSION for PROTECTING the beautiful COUNTRYSIDE around us and the FUTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY LINE for generations to come.

North Somerset MP Liam Fox has raised hopes that funding might be found to prevent giant pylons from blighting the North Somerset landscape. Dr Fox is backing campaigners who are fighting against the 160ft pylons.

Dr Liam Fox MP

The Defence Secretary said he is now exploring ways of securing the funding, which would “mitigate the effect of the pylons” – possibly by running them underground.

Full story here: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/MP-Fox-raises-hopes-Somerset-pylons/article-3426533-detail/article.html

Spring Walk along the Strawberry Line – Saturday 16th April.

Yatton Against Pylons invite you, your family and friends, to join them on a “Spring walk” to celebrate the special beauty of the Strawberry Line on Saturday 16th April. Although exact details are to be confirmed, it is anticipated the walk will begin around 10:00am at the Strawberry Line Café and will cover the footpath towards Congresbury and back. The wonderful Strawberry Line Café will be open throughout the morning.

The walk is aimed to coincide with National Grid plc’s announcement this Spring of their “preferred route” for connecting the Hinkley C power station to Seabank substation in Avonmouth; both proposed routes will blight our village, the Strawberry Line and great swathes of the beautiful Somerset countryside around us with 46m high towers carrying 400,000 volt pylons.

Look out for posters in the village and local press for further details; join us for the morning and show your village and the surrounding countryside you care!