An Bord Pleanála,
64 Marlborough Street,
Dublin 1,
Ireland.
Board reference: PL02.VA0017
Applicant: EirGrid Plc
Proposed Development: North – South 400kV Interconnector
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to An Bord Pleanála to record my objection to the planning application resubmission (Reference PL02.VA 0017) by Eirgrid in June, which requests approval to construct
over 400 pylons and overhead electricity transmission lines carrying 400,000 volts, across the
North-East.
As a landowner, I have major objections to the plans by EirGrid to impose the North-South
interconnector on my land, without any opportunity for inputs or consultation prior to the decision
to proceed with pylons and extra high voltage overhead transmission lines. I wish to make the
following statements of objection:
1. I firstly want to record my extreme annoyance at the lack of respect shown to
landowners by EirGrid over the last 8 years. The company decided on the route and the
overhead lines and pylons option before ever making any contact with the most affected
group, namely all of the landowners. EirGrid has refused over the 8 years to ever meet
with landowners as a group. The so-called landowner consultation process has been
nothing but a pretence. EirGrid has persisted in refusing to recognize that over 95% of
all affected landowners oppose this planning application, but equally support an
underground cable alternative.
2. I am concerned about the health risks from the EMF emissions that I and my family will
be exposed to by EirGrid’s plans. Farmers, their families and their employees will be at
most risk from overhead lines. The public at large worry about how far away they will be
located from these lines, but farmers will have to walk and work under these lines every
day.
3. I am very concerned about the potential health risk to my animals on the farm, which will
have daily exposure to these electricity lines. There are numerous studies highlighting
the negative impact of overhead lines on livestock, bloodstock and indeed crops.
Bloodstock, in particular, is well known to react negatively in the vicinity of such lines.
4. I object to the attempt to impose a significant safety risk on my property, increasing the
probability of a serious accident occurring. Overhead lines and pylons are a source of
significant intrusion and invasion onto farmers’ lands and everyone involved in farming
knows how troublesome and time-consuming it is to have to work around poles, never
mind pylons, in fields from a machinery perspective. These proposed pylons and
overhead lines introduce a significantly increased safety risk because of the extra high
voltage nature of the lines and because of the extremely low sag proposed by EirGrid,
with as low as 9 metres from ground level being requested. Much of the large machinery
on farm today can extend well above this sag level.
5. Farmers and landowners are extremely annoyed at the lack of importance given to
agriculture or farming in general in the original EirGrid application and also in the current
application. Farming is the backbone of rural communities. This planning application
requests approval to impose these lines and pylons on hundreds of farmers’
landholdings, completely against their will or their approval. The application, if approved,
plans to destroy numerous hedgerows on many affected and neighbouring farms, acres
of forestry and thousands of tonnes of valuable top soil. It will drive a sterile corridor of
74 metres in width on farms for a distance of 140 kilometres across the North-East.
6. The impact of such a destructive application will result in major devaluation of our land
and of our adjacent homes across the North-East. It is a well known and documented
fact that power lines have a statistically significant negative impact on both land and
property values. The refusal by EirGrid to even recognize this fact highlights the
company’s brazen approach to ignoring the impact of this project on affected
landowners.
7. The fact is that, as already conceded by EirGrid, a simple and feasible solution exists,
namely installing the interconnector along public roads using the latest underground
cable technology. This option eliminates all of the objections and concerns that
landowners and the public have concerning overhead lines and pylons. Landowners will
not allow pylons on their land under any circumstances, but are very willing to support
undergrounding of the interconnector. I support the NEPPC position of undergrounding
this project.
Signed ----------------------------