Council Concern For Pylon Plans

3 February 2010, 06:05 | Updated: 3 February 2010, 06:20

Plans to put up dozens more pylons through the Suffolk countryside will cause severe damage to the county's environment.

That's the concern of Suffolk County Council which discussed controversial plans from National Grid in a Cabinet meeting yesterday.

The power firm says new lines have to go up because demand's outstripping supply but the council wants the company to consider alternatives.

It decided yesterday that all of the proposed corridors would cause severe damage to the environment of South Suffolk and asked National Grid to further investigate alternative solutions, including a connection to an undersea grid around the coast and across the North Sea which could link planned and any future tranches of nuclear, offshore wind energy and other renewable energy projects.

A National Grid consultation into the proposed new pylons has now finished, but the Council also expressed its disappointment that any feedback hadn't been published. It's urging the company to review it's plans but has admitted if time is of the essence it will back one chosen route but would be adament about power lines in Constable Country being put underground instead.