'Pylons are only the beginning' warn protesters

A new line of pylons through Lincolnshire will also mean more solar and wind farms and "the entire industrialisation" of coastal communities, claim campaigners.

National Grid wants to build a corridor of pylons between Grimsby to Walpole, over the border in Norfolk.

Protest group No Pylons Lincolnshire said residents were not being told of an "almost constant barrage" of green projects that will also be built along the route.

National Grid said it was obliged to provide a connection for projects that apply to plug into the transmission network.

The pylons would take green energy generated in Scotland and transport it to the south-east of the country.

There will also be four new substations to process the power, which will also provide plug-in facilities for new electricity-generating projects nearby, according to National Grid proposals.

The plans include 14 possible solar or wind farms along the route. Some are already in the early stages of the planning process.

No Pylons Lincolnshire has written to Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband, saying there has been "an almost constant barrage of additional proposals for onshore facilities" since the pylons project was announced.

It is asking for them all to be considered together, rather than separately.

"For most people these projects are passing under the radar, as residents are not getting any information," said spokesman Peter Phillips.

Jennifer Cooper's back garden in Bilsby, near Alford, overlooks the proposed site for a substation.

One of the new solar farm projects already in the planning system could go nearby.

"Once you get one substation the number of projects will just grow and grow, and we'll be totally industrialised," she said.

"We're being inundated but we're only being drip-fed the information."

The protestors are being supported by Lincolnshire County Council, which has threatened legal action to halt construction of the pylons.

Colin Davie, the council's portfolio holder for environment and planning, said he would expect to see "solar farms and onshore wind along the whole route on either side of the pylons".

National Grid said it was obligated to provide offers of connection to those projects that applied for them via the national system.

In a statement, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: "There is additional grid capacity in the Lincolnshire area, which can be used to connect new renewable projects.

"It is important we take people with us and [we] are considering ways to ensure communities who live near clean energy infrastructure can see the benefits of this."

National Energy System Operator, which manages the process by which projects connect to National Grid, has been approached for comment.

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