Preferred pylon route “not decided yet”

 

The energy giant has collated the results of its extensive public consultation held throughout the summer and will distribute the findings to residents in its next newsletter (on the link below).

 

But with growing suspicion that the preferred corridor for the hundreds of pylons has already been chosen and is about to be announced, a company insider said that the timetable revealed in September is still in place.

 

“I’ve not heard of these rumours which would be incorrect anyway because the process is ongoing and will be decided and announced in February,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, Steven Edwards, Senior Environmental Planner at ScottishPower Energy Networks, said there had been some delay to the process due to the enormous response to the consultation.

 

“We have been reviewing every comment and have taken longer than expected,” he said: “We understand this delay might cause some concern but want to be sure that we are reviewing all feedback in terms of the overall project design and as part of our evaluation of the broad route corridor options.”

 

The two options on the table would cable power generated from proposed new windfarms to the west of Montgomeryshire through a massive substation located in either Cefn Coch or Abermule. That would in turn see hundreds of pylons routed through one of two valleys across the border to England's National Grid connection.

 

Once the preferred corridor is announced in February, a further round of public consultation will take place.

 

The plans have faced stiff opposition throughout Mid Wales with the Montgomeryshire Against Pylons group vowing to step up its campaign in the coming weeks. Last Thursday, the group drove through Cardiff showing seven huge maps on how the locality will be affected.