POWER TO THE PEOPLE
‘You don’t know Anglesey’ warns pylon protestor
COMMUNITIES across Anglesey have come together in a landmark show of unity against plans for more electricity pylons.
Last week the National Grid launched its final-phase consultation on plans to link Wylfa Newydd to the main electricity network, which includes a £100m tunnel to carry cables under the Menai Strait but overhead pylons for the vast majority of the route from Cemaes to Pentir near Bangor.
But following a meeting of the island’s town and community councils, a joint memorandum has been drawn up making clear their strong opposition to more pylons being built and “blighting the landscape”.
Despite the proposed pylons following broadly the same route as the existing structures, the councils, under the One Voice Wales umbrella, have reiterated calls for subsea or underground cables, with a spokesman also raising questions over a study into the impact of pylons’ electromagnetic fields.
Although a costlier option, underground cables have been used in other parts of the country such as Portmeirion to Llyn Trawsfynydd, and the Peak District.
Dafydd Idriswyn Roberts, Chair of the One Voice Wales Pylons sub-committee, described the consultation process as “flawed”, also accusing the grid of ignoring the feedback from residents and elected representatives.
He said: “By surprising us with the stealth launch of their consultation, the grid continues in its tradition of manipulating the information flow.
“We also discovered the grid intends to exclude the impact of the pylon’s electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from their Envi- ronmental Statement. Instead they will prepare a stand-alone document on the company’s own terms.
“So what are the people of Anglesey to conclude if the grid, given an opportunity to reassure us of the safety case, has been quietly wriggling out of any commitment to have the impact of EMFs scrutinised in the environmental impact assessment?
“Should the grid hope that the consultation fatigue arising from their consultthen-ignore approach will limit the negative responses in this third – yet most important –consultation, they don’t know Anglesey!
“This is a fight for the democratic rights of the people of Anglesey to have their voices heard.”
A National Grid spokesperson said: “We are urging people to have their say on the proposals as this could be the last route-wide consultation we carry out.
“EMFs are present wherever electricity is used. Most exposure comes from the wiring in our homes and from appliances, but power lines are also a further source.
“We know people have concerns about possible health effects of EMFs and we take this very seriously.
“The Government has set standards on acceptable levels of EMFs and we guarantee we will meet these standards.
“EMFs are not included in our Environmental Statement, which considers the potential effects of the work and how we can keep these effects as low as possible.
“This position has been agreed with the Planning Inspectorate.
“However, we will be publishing a separate report which explains our approach to EMFs so everyone can see how we are meeting the independent standards set by Government.”