REVOLT Newsletter 313

Revolt news 313 7/12/2010 Print (pdf) Version

1. The Stour Valley Underground (SVU) December newsletter is published 6-12-10. A list of key points appears at APPENDIX A below. SVU proposes burying powerlines using GIL technology in tunnels (news311.5).

http://www.stourvalleyunderground.org.uk/

2. SVU is promoting co-ordinated opposition from east-coast counties to the many new powerline developments threatened, from Kent to Lincolnshire (news312.1, 308, 306). It issued “a call to the County Councils of East Anglia:- Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent, to collaborate in rising to the joint challenges these developments bring”.

http://www.s258888288.websitehome.co.uk/Underground/Region_wide_threat.html

3. The SVU newsletter highlights one of the “green ovals” in National Grid’s ODIS maps, suggesting a new power line in East Anglia from near Lowestoft westwards along the scenic Waveney valley to link with the Norwich – Bramford line.

4. The Revolt guide to strategy documents (news307) has been updated (at 7-12-10) and is enclosed herewith as a pdf file. No single source document gives the full picture of future grid development in Britain. It is necessary to scour all sources. This guide lists and comments on the main and most useful sources.

The Revolt guide to strategy documents

5. The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) newsletter of December 2010 tells that the number of proposals has grown to 51. Few are for powerlines but many are for generation including wind farms. Most are at the pre-application stage. An application for the new NG 400kV powerline East Thurrock Connection Project in Essex is expected in May 2011. An application for a new NG powerline proposal “South Wales Network Upgrade” east of Swansea (Baglan Bay to Pyle) is expected November 2011. An application for the new 950MW Severnside Power Station near Bristol is expected October 2011.

http://infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/

6. A newsletter of 6 Dec from the Office for Nuclear Development announces “The Government today published proposals on how operators of new nuclear power stations will have to make secure financial provision for decommissioning without recourse to the taxpayer, in line with the Government’s policy that there should be no subsidy for new nuclear”. www.decc.gov.uk

7. The government re-consultation (news310.4-8) on the revised NPSs will close on 24-1-11.

https://www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk/

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APPENDIX A Key points from SVU December 2010 newsletter

• The Regional if not Nation wide threat to our landscape
• Local Government across the region starts to collaborate in countering the threat of more pylons
• At Government direction, the production of an independent report into underground and undersea cable costs gets underway
• Our coalition of amenity groups is called upon to contribute to the report
• We build contact with Siemens, makers of the most cost effective form of underground cables
• National Grid write to us saying that they will not wait until the independent report comes out before announcing a "preferred corridor"
• National Grid's email implies that they have already disregarded the public's call for a non pylon solution
• The Bramford - Twinstead pylon corridor announcement is put back again and is now expected late February

Statements made by the editor or by other parties and quoted for information do not necessarily represent the views of Revolt. Criticism of government and industry, and grievances from members of the public, are in the nature of Revolt's work, though we try to give credit where it is due. Revolt is strictly non-party-political and regrets any offence which may be inadvertently caused.