Electric station on city’s edge refused

CONTROVERSIAL plans to build an “overbearing and alien” electricity substation on the outskirts of Exeter have been unanimously rejected despite a warning that hundreds of homes being built would rely on it.

Devon County Council and the National Grid jointly applied to build a substation at Matford Home Farm to support a large housing development between Alphington and Exminster.

Hundreds of properties have already been built and many more are in the pipeline, but electricity capacity in the area is not sufficient to support the full development of 2,500 homes.

The applicants wanted the new substation to be up and running in 202, providing power for homes with heat pumps instead of gas boilers, together with charging for electric vehicles.

However, people living nearby raised fears over potential flooding, noise and light pollution.

Teignbridge District Council’s planning committee was set to make a decision in January, with the application recommended for rejection, only for a late move by the applicants to have the Secretary of State look at the issue.

Last week planning members heard from lawyer Neil Bromwich on behalf of the National Grid, who told them suggested alternative sites at Peamoor and Marsh Barton were not feasible, the former because it would cost an extra £10 million and cause “significant environmental damage”, and the latter because it is on a flood plain.

Any alternative could take years to plan and deliver, he said, and by 2029 the resilience of the power network could be compromised, leading to delays in building muchneeded homes.

But Exminster Parish council objected to the plans, calling them “uninviting and hostile”, and Cllr Kevin Lake said the project was being “railroaded” by the county council.

“The need for a future sub-station is not disputed,” he said. “But not here.”

Cllr Suzanne Sanders said: “I’m astounded. This is a gateway to a cathedral city, and I do not consider that this application enhances that gateway.”