January, 2010

Wraxall & Failand Parish Council have now responded with a letter to National Grid outlining their objections to National Grid’s proposals. As part of their response, they have commissioned an independent report on the proposals by Ambrose and Pratt, a copy of which they submitted to National Grid with their response. A copy of their letter including the Ambrose and Pratt report has now been added to our Resources page at: http://yattonagainstpylons.co.uk/?page_id=65#Responses

A number of protest marches organised by Yatton Against Pylons, Save Our Valley and Save Nailsea West are reported in the Clevedon Mercury at: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/clevedon/news/Uniting-pylons/article-1689396-detail/article.html

Following discussions between Mark Parish Council and National Grid, National Grid have now agreed to extend the pre-application consultation period by a further two weeks to Friday 22nd January. Confirmation is in this press release on National Grid’s website at: http://www.nationalgrid.com/ui/Sites/NationalGrid/UK/Templates/FeaturePageFull.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID={23ECF970-A9DC-4D7F-B46E-D93CD5261E4D}&NRORIGINALURL=%2Fuk%2FMedia%2BCentre%2FPressReleases%2F2010%2FHinkley070110.htm&NRCACHEHINT=Guest.

Story also reported in:

• The Weston Mercury at: http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/news/story.aspx?brand=Westonmercury&category=newsNorthSomerset&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED07%20Jan%202010%2014%3A33%3A15%3A170

The go-ahead has been given by Scottish ministers for the construction of ‘super pylons’ in the Cairngorms. Reported by the BBC at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7853756.stm

Please continue to support your local campaign, it is essential we join with the other campaign groups up and down the line to show National Grid and the IPC how strong our feelings are. We will be meeting with the other campaign groups: No Moor Pylons, Pylon The Pressure and Save Our Valley over the next couple of weeks to agree our next steps as we move into phase 2 of the ‘consultation’ process.

I know I am preaching to the converted…but…please don’t forget to write to National Grid to make your feelings known by Friday 22nd January and continue to lobby your MP, MEP and EDF et al.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the meeting with Liam Fox this Friday – Yatton Rugby Club, 6.20 for prompt 6.45pm start. Don’t forget, if you have a question for Dr Fox, please send this to us in advance so that we put it forward on your behalf.

Thank you for your continued support!

Yatton Rugby Club – Friday 8th January – 6:20pm

We will be hosting a meeting with Dr Liam Fox MP at Yatton Rugby Club this Friday 8th January. Please take the opportunity to attend and question your local MP on National Grid’s proposals. Please arrive at 6:20pm for a prompt 6:45 start. If there is a question you would like to put to Dr Fox, please email rapyatton@hotmail.co.uk The bar will be open and tea and coffee will also be available.
We look forward to seeing you there!

We believe NG and EDF should be doing more to thoroughly examine the feasibility of other options such as taking the cables underground or even running them up the Bristol Channel from Hinkley Point to Avonmouth.

As yet, no such options has been offered to villagers in Yatton or the surrounding areas. We find this to be unacceptable. Several European countries and America all took heed of health warnings from global experts on the subject and buried their electricity cables underground alongside motorways or in areas where they didn’t impact on wildlife or residents’ quality of life. In other cases, including the Isles of Scilly, the cables have been laid under the sea.

Even Steve Holliday, the chief executive of National Grid, appears convinced there are alternatives to pylons. In an interview with the Independent newspaper in July this year he gleefully described how it is an ‘exciting time’ for the company and goes on to reveal how a planned underwater cable from Scotland to just south of Liverpool is a ‘no brainer’.

Independent writer Sarah Arnott wrote: In the UK, the main item on National Grid’s agenda is to refresh the electricity infrastructure itself. The grid’s architecture – designed around a central spine connected to a relatively small number of very large sources of power – is simply not appropriate for the 21st-century energy mix, with lots of smallish wind farms, both off and onshore, as well as the new nuclear power stations. According to the Energy Networks Strategy Group, Britain’s power grid needs £4.7bn of unavoidable investment, 75 per cent of which will come from National Grid. But rather than simply boosting the existing network, the group has a more radical scheme to build new links running down each coast under the sea. The plan for the west coast – from Scotland to just south of Liverpool – is the most advanced. It is no more costly than the more conservative upgrade plan. And although there are some challenges – such as shifting the current to DC when it goes offshore, and AC when it comes back on again – none of the technical novelties is a showstopper. “I just don’t think anyone ever thought of doing this before,” Mr Holliday says. The plan for the eastern half of the plan has yet to be proven. But the western undersea grid is a “no-brainer”, Mr Holliday insists, even for a company as risk-averse as National Grid. Ofgem seems to agree. The regulator has made a rare exception to the rules and given National Grid the go-ahead to start work on the project before the business case is fully worked out.

The company was allowed to collect an extra £10m through this year’s transmission charge so that it can get on with the design work, and there are 120 engineers busy on the designs. “This is a pivotal moment for the industry because we are not just thinking about the usual five-year, regulatory time horizon,” Mr Holliday says. “This needs to be in place by 2016, so we need to get on with it now and, while we are working out how it can be paid for, we have some revenues to maintain the programme.” But there will be no further investment until there is a payback. “It is clear under every scenario that no one would regret this investment,” Mr Holliday adds. “But we have not quite finalised how we will earn revenues, and until then we won’t invest.”

See the full article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/steve-holliday-the-undersea-secret-thats-bringing-more-power-to-the-people-1757503.html

Letter by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) in response to National Grid proposal/consultation now added to Resources at: http://yattonagainstpylons.co.uk/?page_id=65#Responses