PR271/15
For immediate release
18 September 2015
Are Some National Parks More Equal Than Others?
National Grid has launched a series of Community Information Events throughout West Cumbria to
inform residents about the proposed North West Coast Connections (NWCC) project chosen route
which involves taking new electricity powerlines and 50m tall pylons through 24km of the western
Lake District and another 18km adjacent to the boundary.
The NWCC project is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) which is needed to connect
the proposed nuclear power station at Moorside north of Sellafield with the national grid at
Heysham.
Coincidentally, and with great fanfare, National Grid has announced the Visual Impact Provision (VIP)
Project, £500m of funding to put the services and connections provided by existing overhead lines
and pylons in national parks and AONBs underground. According to National Grid, the Visual Impact
Provision project “represents a major opportunity to conserve and enhance the natural beauty,
wildlife and environmental heritage within our most protected landscapes”.
Graham Pitts, Chairman of Power Without Pylons said,
"This is madness. How can National Grid have the audacity to accept this huge sum of money whilst
still proposing new pylons in the Lake District National Park? This will cause the self-same problem to
solve later.
“How much more taxpayer's money do they expect? Why not get it right whilst they are still
designing the south connection from Moorside. Listen to the people of the area and get it out of
sight."
The west of the Lake District is unique as it is the only place in England where the mountains meet
the sea with beautiful views of the high fells, estuaries and coastal plain. The question being asked is
why this part of the Lake District is of any lesser value than those protected landscapes where pylons
are to be removed.
Kate Willshaw, Policy Officer at Friends of the Lake District,
“At the moment, National Grid is only discussing overhead line technology and is not considering
undergrounding the powerlines, against our advice and other organisations including the Lake
District National Park and Natural England.
“This is despite the fact that much of the land is suitable to allow trenching to take place and to
recover quickly afterwards. We want to know why underground technology is not being considered
or consulted upon when we know that the design will be finalised in December.”
One of the options put forward in the 2014 consultation was to take the cables south offshore, so
avoiding the environmental damage which would be caused by taking the powerlines through the
Lake District. National Grid and NuGen (Moorside’s developer) have now rejected this option, citing
technical problems. However, the NWCC project has never said that the offshore option cannot be
constructed. Power Without Pylons accepts that there are some technical challenges, but believes
that these can be overcome and that an offshore option represents another viable alternative to
pylon construction.
The area of the Lake District affected by the proposals is within the World Heritage Site bid area
launched by the National Park Partnership this year. Just last week, the Navitus NSIP, a very large
offshore wind farm 15km from the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site was refused by the Secretary
of State for Energy and Climate Change on the basis of damage to the features of the World Heritage
Site.
If a project that lies 15km offshore from a World Heritage Site is refused on the basis of damage to
that site it would seem to make the proposition to put 24km of 50m tall pylons through the Lake
District National Park, a potential World Heritage Site, unfeasible.
ENDS
499 Words
Note for Editors:
Friends of the Lake District
For more information, contact Kate Willshaw at Friends of the Lake District on 01539 720788 during
office hours.
Power Without Pylons
For more information, contact Graham Barron at Power Without Pylons at
graham.barron@powerwithoutpylons.org.uk
Images:
PR 271 - Pylons south of Foxfield sunset
PR 271 - Pylons and Black Combe from Silecroft Beach
PR 271 - Black Combe Sunset
Friends of the Lake District is the only membership organisation dedicated to protecting and
enhancing Cumbria's landscapes. Friends of the Lake District represents CPRE in Cumbria.