National Grid Norwich to Tilbury Statutory Public Consultation full details.
Online feedback form to be submitted by 18th June 2024.
Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylon Group website.
Norwich to Tilbury, previously known as East Anglia GREEN, is a proposal by National Grid to reinforce the high voltage power network in East Anglia between the existing substations at Norwich main, Bramford in Suffolk, and Tilbury in Essex, as well as connecting new off shore wind generation, by way of 180km of 400kv overhead cables carried on 50m high pylons (except in the Dedham AONB where they will be buried).
Mellis Parish Council STONGLY OBJECTS to this proposal, as per the minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting held on 19th May 2022, and instead supports the offshore option SCD2 which was rejected by National Grid without being presented for public consultation.
Full details of National Grid's East Anglia GREEN proposal
Mellis Parish Council's response to National Grid's non statutory public consultation June 2022:
Mellis Parish Council STRONGLY OBJECTS to the above proposal. We believe the consultation presented is not transparent, and is biased towards an overland pylon route. We are also concerned that the viable offshore route, SCD2, was rejected by National Grid without presenting it for public consultation. We would like to see full comparative costings for the £2.2bn quoted for the pylons, and the £3bn quoted for the offshore option.Mellis is set on and around the largest unfenced Common area in England and is steeped in history. Oliver Cromwell encamped and exercised his troops on the Common; “Cavalry Barn” gains its name from its use as the stabling area for Cromwell’s cavalry. The Common and village sit in a conservation area.The Common is owned / managed jointly by the Suffolk Wildlife trust and private ownership. There is a Common rights holder group for those houses holding Commoners rights.The common is a 59 hectare nature reserve and has a variety of rare species of plants such as the Green Winged Orchid, Bee Orchid, Adders Tongue Fern and Sulphur Clover. It has a variety of owls including Tawny and Barn supported by the abundance of small mammals such as shrew and field mice. Slow worms and adders and grass snakes are among the wide variety of reptiles and many species of invertebrates that also inhabit the common and surrounding farm land providing a rich food sauce for the many hunting animals that exist on the common such Sparrow Hawks, Kestrels, Red Kites and Buzzards. The common is also home to many overwintering migrating birds in its wetland areas such as Woodcock and Snipe as well as a wide variety of newts populating the many ponds and wetlands on and around the common.The village has 32 Grade II listed properties, many of which will be directly affected by this proposal. The environmental and socio economic effect of the proposed route would be devastating.
Mellis Parish Council's response to the EN0200027 EIA Scoping Consultation December 2022:
Mellis Parish Council strongly objects to the National Grid’s East Anglia Green Energy Enablement pylon route proposal. We have seen no evidence that National Grid has either recognised or considered the effects on the environment, visually significant open spaces, or cultural assets of Mellis, or its neighbouring parishes.Mellis is a small village set on and around the largest unfenced Common area in England, and is steeped in history. Oliver Cromwell encamped and exercised his troops on the Common. There are 32 listed buildings in Mellis; Cavalry Barn gains its name from being used as the stabling area for Cromwell’s cavalry. The pylons would cause immeasurable harm to the setting of these cultural assets. Mellis Common is a 59-hectare nature reserve. In summer rare plants such as green winged orchid, sulphur clover, and adder's tongue fern flourish. The abundance of small mammals also makes the site a favourite hunting ground for barn owls and tawny owls. The wider area falls under the MSDC descriptor of a cultural Heritage site containing many special landscape areas (as described in the BMSDC joint landscape guidance document 2015). There are many archaeological sites on the common and within the surrounding agricultural land and woodlands. These environmentally important assets, and the visual amenity they provide, will all be directly, and negatively impacted by the proposed pylon route. The value of the pylons does not supersede the value or importance of these sites, or cultural and visual assets. The pylons will be hugely detrimental and damaging, and have a negative impact on property values, and businesses linked to tourism in the parish. We believe the environmental, visual, and cultural constraints of the proposed pylon route will in fact be much, much higher than the alleged budget savings of an overland route. We instead support an offshore option which we do not believe has been fairly or transparently presented for public consultation by the National Grid, and for which there are precedents nationwide. Suffolk County Council has also confirmed its intention to object to the proposals, stating its belief that there are better ways to meet the demands of energy projects, such as an undersea network. We are aware that National Grid has actually recently admitted its failure to include the viable alternative options in their initial consultation, and therefore do not feel it is even appropriate for this Scoping Consultation to have been called at this stage. National Grid has in fact started to remove pylons and overhead cable as it heads towards the conclusion of its first Visual Impact Provision, to transform views of the Dorset AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). It is inconceivable that National Grid's Visual Impact Provision does not extend to East Anglia.