Cotswolds pylons could soon disappear

NEARLY five miles of overhead cables and electric pylons could soon be removed from the Cotswolds landscape and moved underground.

After two years of consultation, National Grid is nearing completion of its planning application for a project that aims to remove 16 pylons and about

4.5 miles of overhead line and replace them with cables buried underground.

The National Grid say this will “transform” the Cotswolds National Landscape, which forms part of the National Grid’s Visual Impact Provision (VIP) project.

This scheme wants to reduce the visual impact of existing high-voltage power lines located in protected landscapes in England and Wales.

National Grid has invited residents in Winchcombe, Cheltenham and the surrounding villages to find out about the updated plans for the project, which will form the content of the planning application submission, scheduled for later this spring.

Three public information drop-in events are being held this month so visitors can meet the project team, ask questions and give feedback as the project plans are finalised.

The first session took place at Stanton Hall in Charlton Kings yesterday, with another planned at Abbey Fields Community Centre in Winchcombe between 10am and 2pm today and Whittington Village Hall in Whittington between 3pm and 7.30pm on Tuesday.

Robbie Griggs, National Grid lead project manager, said: “By going underground in the Cotswolds, we’ll transform the skyline right across the stunning landscape of the Cotswold Plateau.

“The chosen area was selected following extensive independent landscape and visual impact research which identified the plateau as one of the landscapes most affected by pylons anywhere in England and Wales.”