National Parks contain some of the most spectacular views in England and Wales and we don’t think major power generation projects or transmission routes should ruin them.
We’re working with partner organisations on our council to make the case for pylons in National Parks to be rerouted, undergrounded or taken offshore. After years of campaigning we were extremely pleased that Ofgem agreed a £500 million allowance to be used by National Grid in protected areas to find alternatives for pylons in National Parks– the Visual Impact Provision (VIP) project. We’re now part of a Stakeholder Advisory Group which is advising on priorities for looking at the placement of transmission lines in National Parks. Find out about our work to make the National Parks more beautiful.
But, this still isn’t good enough – the Lake District is currently at risk of the largest planned electricity infrastructure project in the UK.
Saying NO to North West Coastal Connections and pylons in the Lake District
At the same time as running the VIP project, National Grid was proposing to have 24km of overhead lines and pylons in the Lake District. The proposed 400kV cables were due to run around the west of Cumbria from Carlisle in the north to Heysham in the south. This would have been a huge blight on this special landscape.
Read the consultation response that we sent to National Grid on 6 January 2017
In October 2016 National Grid announced that they would underground the lines within the Park. We were very pleased about this news, but are still calling on National Grid to underground the 20km of electricity line planned in the boundary of the National Park.