Pylon Consultation condemned as sham

Pressures mounting for National Grid to scrap the consultation on plans for a 37 mile long line of pylons across Somerset....and start again.

 Somerset County Council has joined protestors across the county in condeming the consultation.  Campaigners say they've not been given enough information about the options for the 400 thousand volt cable that will needed between Hinkely Point Nuclear Power Station and Avonmouth if a new nuclear power plant is built. It would carry the electricity generated by what will be one of the largest single generators in the UK's high voltage system. 

Campaigners say National Grid have ruled out an undersea option on grounds of technolgoy and cost claiming it would cost £1.9 billion, but that a longer route between Kent and the Netherlands is under constructiona t the moment and is costing £500 million.  They'd be constructed in 2016 at a cost of approximately £2 million per mile.

The consultation period on the National Policy Statements over the controversial plans from National Grid for the 150ft high pylons on Somerset Levels ends on Monday 22nd February.

National Grid say "Electricity is an essential part of our lives and the line will play a key role in helping to meet the demand for power.
Many residents in villages across the levels along the 37 mile route have been protesting against the plans demanding to know why an existing line of plyons can not be up graded to take the new cable or why it cant run along the route of the motorway. 

To hear from campaigner Maggie Gregory from Pylon The Pressure listen here