National Grid must do more on Bramford to Twinstead pylon proposals

National Grid needs to do far more to reduce the impact of reinforcing electricity transfer lines between Bramford and Twinstead, Suffolk County Council has said.
Published: 14 Sep 2023

National Grid plans to reinforce its 400kV grid between Bramford in Suffolk and Twinstead in Essex. If the project goes ahead, new power lines would be installed through the Stour Valley and Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Following pressure from Suffolk County Council and community groups, National Gird has pledged additional undergrounding of cables through these sensitive landscapes.

However, at a hearing last night, held as part of the project’s Examination in Public, Councillor Richard Rout, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for finance and environment said:

Suffolk County Council accepts that this project is needed to reinforce the electricity transmission network in East Anglia, and that National Grid has made significant changes to reduce the harm to Suffolk’s communities, landscapes, and environment. The proposals for undergrounding in the Stour Valley and AONB are particularly welcome but would not have come about without the tireless campaigning of communities and councillors across South Suffolk.
However, substantial issues remain unresolved. National Grid, and their contractors, must be properly controlled by any planning consent. The impacts of construction work on traffic and the visitor economy must be addressed. So too must the long-term impacts around Bramford substation and on landscapes, wildlife and heritage along the route.
Therefore, we are not yet able to offer our support, because of the outstanding and unresolved matters. We expect to work with National Grid during the examination, on behalf of the affected communities, to secure a satisfactory resolution of our concerns.

Cllr Rout’s comments in full can be downloaded along with more details about this National Grid project. 

Suffolk County Council is no stranger to dealing with Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), having responded to several proposals since 2018. These include:

  • Sizewell C, one of only two planned new nuclear plants in the UK;
  • The EA1 North and EA2 windfarms;
  • Major interconnectors connecting the UK national grid to the continent at Suffolk;
  • Sunnica Energy Farm, which (if consented) would become the UK’s largest solar farm;
  • The Norwich to Tilbury pylons (previously known as East Anglia Green) which forms another part of the large number of transmission projects to reinforce the grid, coming forward in East Anglia, as our region becomes one of the greatest exporters of clean energy in the country.

Suffolk County Council has also successfully promoted its own Development Consent Order (DCO) project under the NSIP planning regime, to authorise the Lake Lothing Third Crossing at Lowestoft, which is now under construction as the Gull Wing Bridge.