Controversial plans to put 24 kilometres of pylons across parts of the Lake District National Park in West Cumbria have come under fire, as supporters of the ‘Say No to Pylons in the Lake District’ campaign turned out to take part in a special walk on St George's Day.

We joined forces with local campaign group ‘Power Without Pylons’ to organise the walk over Black Combe in the Duddon Valley.

It served as the ideal vantage point for campaign supporters to view the route and potential impact of the 50m pylon line that National Grid plans to erect to connect the proposed Moorside nuclear power station to the UK electricity grid. 

The event was organised to raise public awareness of the threat and to exert pressure on National Grid to open a dialogue about underground mitigation for the line installation.

National Grid  recently asked environmental groups and organisations to suggest which area should be spared the blight of the 50m pylons but Kate Willshaw, our Policy Officer raises a note of caution about the request saying,

“If we fall into the trap of identifying specific areas for undergrounding we run the risk of National Grid claiming to have taken public opinion on board at the planning inquiry, proposing to protect these areas alone and ultimately undermining our calls for the whole route to be put underground.”

National Grid’s question to stakeholders about which 2-3km stretch of the route they would like to see undergrounded has led to concern that this may be the full extent of the undergrounding that National Grid is considering.

It has prompted a recent statement from National Grid Project Manager, Robert Powell clarifying their current position, saying,

“You may have seen recent media speculation about the amount of undergrounding we are considering for this project. While we haven’t completed our evaluation yet, I can confirm that the figures quoted are a long way from our current thinking.”

Kate Willshaw, also added that the National Park is currently in the process of applying for World Heritage Site status on cultural and landscape grounds, which could very well have an impact on any decision made on the grid transmission technology and may mean that National Grid will have to provide significantly more undergrounding than is currently proposed in the National Park.

Campaigners are taking further solace from National Grid’s recent announcement that it is to postpone the next stage of its consultation until later in the year. Its decision to delay the consultation follows recent national media coverage of the ‘Say No to Pylons in the Lake District’ campaign and may be an indication that the efforts of campaigners and an increasing level of public support and awareness are causing the energy supplier to rethink its plans.

If you have trouble viewing our video on this page then please visit https://vimeo.com/164539622 to view on the Vimeo website.

You can join the campaign by visiting our 'Say No to Pylons in the Lake District' campaign page

You can also show your support by downloading and displaying our poster: Download it here (pdf)