Thank you for your interest. National Grid's public consultation closed on January 6th 2017. We have now submitted our formal response to National Grid which you can read in full here.
We've put together a short document with more detail about our campaign.
Click here or on the image to view or download (pdf)
Detailed information about setting and landscape value
National Parks have the highest levels of landscape protection in the UK. This protection comes from both law (e.g. Environment Act 1995) and planning policy (e.g. the National Planning Policy Framework and the Planning Practice Guidance).
The integrity and security of a national park’s landscape is in part supported by the landscape surrounding the national park boundary. This is known as the setting. All local authorities which lie adjacent to a national park have planning policies which have been put in place to prevent damage to the integrity of the national park from development outside of it.
The setting of a National Park: two definitions
“The setting is most simply described as areas of land or sea either in close proximity or immediately adjacent to the Lake District’s boundary, or in any event within zones of visual influence, where inappropriate development in these locations could adversely affect the Special Qualities.”
“The landscape setting for a National Park is the area whose landscape character compliments that of the National Park itself, either through similarity or contrast, and in some way supports or enhances its landscape through views into or out of the National Park. The setting is also defined by the intervisibility of the landscapes on either side of the park boundary.”
The Lake District is divided into different Landscape Character Types which are defined as areas of similar landscape character which are found throughout the National Park. Many of these landscape character types cross the boundary of the Lake District, because a particular landscape type doesn’t just stop at the boundary of a national park. For example in the Whicham Valley the National Park boundary runs along a stream in the bottom of the valley, but the landscape of the valley is the same on either side of the stream. National park boundaries were drawn along convenient features such as roads and streams which sometimes left landscape of equally high value outside of the national park. This is why the definition above talks about landscape outside of a protected landscape complimenting that inside.
Setting is both views into and out of protected landscapes
Where the setting is discussed, it is usually considered to mean views both into and out of a national park and development which will have an impact on views either way needs to be assessed. Even National Grid have used this definition in their developments close to protected landscapes. For example during the proposals to build a new 400kV grid connection to Hinkley Point, the presence of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) was a major landscape issue. In the documents submitted to the Planning Inspectorate National Grid state that
“The setting of the Mendip Hills AONB comprises the landscape from which the AONB can be seen and the landscape which can be seen from the AONB.”
Near Porthmadog in Wales, there is an estuary called the Afon Glaslyn. This estuary has many similarities with the Duddon Estuary, especially in that looking up it to the centre of Snowdonia gives a magnificent view of mountains. In 2012, National Grid published a document to discuss upgrading an existing underground 400kV line. In this document it states:
“As such, any new overhead line across the Estuary would entail the construction of around 15 additional pylons. Given the constrained nature of the Estuary, and in particular the proximity of Snowdonia National Park and the iconic views to the Park from the Estuary, the pattern of the existing settlements of Porthmadog and Tremadog and the number of visitors using the area, any overhead line is likely to give rise to significant adverse landscape and visual effects.
The Afon Glaslyn in Wales. Lots of similarities with the Duddon Estuary
All this evidence then makes is extremely odd that National Grid make the following statement on page 513 of their assessment of the landscape outside of the Lake District in the Whicham Valley and the Duddon Estuary:
“This section provides a description of the landscape receptors[1] that are consistent with the purposes of designation of the LDNP. Receptors outside the LDNP are not considered by the appraisal, as effects upon these receptors these would not affect the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of these areas or affect the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of those areas by the public”
It appears that National Grid considers that there will be NO landscape impact from the new pylons on anyone viewing the National Park from outside of the National Park boundary or on any landscapes outside of the National Park but part of its setting (e.g. the Whicham Valley and the Duddon Estuary). The impacts have not even been assessed in the appraisal.
In light of this twisted logic, it is no surprise that National Grid’s landscape evaluation concludes that putting pylons 10m from the boundary of the Lake District will not have any impact on the National Park. This methodology for evaluating landscape impact is so fundamentally flawed as to be worthless.
Going back to the Special Qualities of the Lake District, one of the best known is the High Fells scenery. Many of the views of the High Fells can really only be appreciated when one is standing outside of the Lake District looking in. For example, the views of the fells from the M6 when driving north or south in Cumbria are stunning. National Grid in their statement above imply that no-one outside of the Lake District looking at the High Fells is viewing and enjoying their Special Qualities. This is quite obviously nonsense, and in this moment of recognition of the irrationality of National Grid’s position, their argument falls apart.
National Grid’s view is that there will be no impact on our enjoyment of the High Fells when one is standing at Shaw Marsh on the Cumbria Coastal Way and looking up the Duddon Valley to the Scafell Massif where the view will be interrupted by a 47m tall pylon because we are not standing in the National Park. Friends of the Lake District strongly disagrees.
The photo montages that National Grid have provided in the consultation support the assessment that there will be a particularly significant impact on people looking into the Lake District which directly contradicts Grid’s assertion that “Receptors outside the LDNP are not considered by the appraisal, as effects upon these receptors these would not affect the natural beauty, ….. or affect the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of those areas by the public”
We cannot see how National Grid has arrived at its conclusions regarding the impact on the Lake District other than by misapplying its own methodology and misinterpreting what setting actually is.
Final Thoughts on this landscape setting
Christopher Wordsworth, a descendant of the English Romantic poet said,
“William Wordsworth was enthralled by the unique beauty of the Duddon, which inspired his famous series of sonnets. As much as the works of my ancestor are an important part of our literary heritage, his ‘long-loved Duddon’ is an important part of our natural heritage. We owe it to his memory to preserve its beauty for future generations to enjoy.”
[1] *In this context, “receptors” of landscape and visual impact may include physical and natural landscape and biological resources, special interests and groups of viewers. Receptors can be e.g.
Specific landscape components e.g. shoreline, hill or river.
Areas of distinctive character
Valued landscapes like local beauty spots.
Historic, designed landscapes
People – residents, workers, travellers.
Where to find even more information
You can take a look at National Grid's information documents on the NWCC website. These are found under the heading Proposed Route Alignment Stage – 2016 I suggest you start by reading the Non-Technical Summary which gives an overview of the project itself. There is a useful Map Booklet which shows the route of the cables. The areas we are most concerned about are Sections E1 and E2.
(The links are large documents and slow to download)National Grid is currently running public consultation meetings at venues along the west coast. You can see a full schedule of meeting dates at this link: Consultation Event Programme