James Wild MP has challenged the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero on the government’s failure to answer to the cost of its 2030 decarbonisation plans and the environmental impact of National Grid’s ‘Great Grid Upgrade’ project.
This proposes a 90-mile stretch of 50-metre high pylons every 300 metres from Grimsby to Walpole as well as upgrades and new substations in Walpole and the project has received strong opposition due to its lack of transparency and potential environmental impact on rural communities.
Local residents have expressed their concern to James over its impact on the their homes, landscape, agriculture, and wildlife, especially in environmentally sensitive areas like The Wash, one of Europe’s most important wildlife sites.
James has pushed for alternative solutions such as underground cabling that would better preserve the local environment. Previously, he has highlighted the inadequacy of the eight-week consultation period and called for a more thorough review of alternatives, as well as pushed for greater community benefits in his conversations with National Grid for the communities hosting projects.
Similarly, he also co-signed a letter to the National Energy System Operator and Energy Minister Ed Miliband, urging for greater transparency for, and collaboration with constituents, in identifying more sustainable solutions.
James Wild MP said:
“Once again, the Minister has failed to answer the question about the cost estimate, but we do know that the Government’s dogma-driven 2030 target will drive up costs and that we will see pylons and substations imposed in Walpole in my constituency and across the country against the wishes of local people. That will damage our countryside and it relies on Chinese supply chains, which the Energy Secretary visited only over the weekend.
When will the Government realise that their approach of ruling out underground options and attempting to buy off local communities on the cheap, rather than listening to them, will only drive opposition to their plans?”
In response, the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, Michael Shanks MP, said:
“Once again, we hear from Conservative Members about all these grand plans that they wish they had done in the 14 years that they were in government. They could have moved forward on undergrounding if they were so keen on it, but of course they did not. The reality is that it is for individual companies, not us, to set forward the design of individual projects, and cost estimates for undergrounding are five or 10 times more expensive.”
