The company continues to hide detailed costings on cabling, as concern grows amongst residents about the impact of big infrastructure proposals.
Lincolnshire County Council wrote to National Grid in December 2024, requesting further details about the planned Grimsby to Walpole pylon route planned through Lincolnshire, to make sure that the other options – including placing cables on the seabed – had been properly considered.
The company has since replied, refusing to answer legitimate questions, saying that they ‘do not hold a central database of all the information’, that it would take too long to pull the information together, and labelling the request as ‘unreasonable’.
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Cllr Martin Hill OBE, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “I think it’s outrageous that National Grid still refuses to present us with their workings and is hiding from a legitimate – and very reasonable – request for facts and figures. In their letter back to the council, they said they believe there is ‘very little benefit to be gained’ from sharing this information. I wholeheartedly disagree.
“We’re not talking about a small proposal – these pylon plans will have a major impact on the east coast of Lincolnshire and we want to make sure these costs have been properly worked through.
“Residents have told us that they are concerned about Nationally Significant Infrastructure proposals like these, and believe that these pylons specifically will have negative impacts on our environment, tourism and the landscape. We have a duty to these residents to make sure we do what we can to protect their homes and livelihoods.
“We don’t deny that connectivity is important but the infrastructure needs to be upgraded properly, and all views considered. We’re not going to give up on this; we’re going to keep trying to get some honesty and transparency. The campaign continues.”
Lincolnshire County Council will now look to revise and resubmit further questions to National Grid.
In a recent County Views survey, conducted by the county council amongst residents across Lincolnshire, 84% of respondents said they were ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about the impact that Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects – such as these pylon plans and large-scale solar developments – would have on the county.
Over 70% of respondents felt that the pylon plans would impact negatively on local nature.
The results of the County Views survey will be discussed at the council’s Executive meeting on Tuesday 4 February.
The full report will be available on www.letstalk.lincolnshire.gov.uk/county-views following the meeting.
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