This month it is expected that the Government will support the building of 12 new lines of overhead power lines across 170 miles of countryside. The National Grid is considering erecting hundreds of pylons across the Snowdonia National Park and three areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to carry the lines.
In today’s technological age you’d think we could come up with a better method of transmitting power than via wires hanging across ugly rows of metal giants. Not only are they at the mercy of bad weather and a danger to humans and animals, they are extremely unsightly. A rural alliance, including the CPRE, is already calling for 1,750 pylons to be dismantled and power lines buried by the National Grid. Around 550 of those pylons stretch across national parks, including the Peak District, Snowdonia, New Forest and South Downs.
Bill Bryson, CPRE’s president says: “Tens of thousands of pylons already march across our countryside. We don’t need to add still more – we can and should start to put a number of existing lines underground or under the sea. Today we challenge the Government, Ofgem and National Grid to start removing pylons from our most beautiful landscapes. If the work takes a decade or two then so be it. Future generations should be able to experience National Parks that are free of the largest pylons.”