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'We're not being given a choice' - pylon protesters

Ella Harget-Dash/BBC A photo of Nicole Gibson. She is facing the camera and standing in front of other protesters. She is standing in front of a sign that reads 'stop the pylons'. She has blonde hair and is wearing sunglasses. She is wearing a black t-shirt that reads '180km of pylons, say no'. She is also wearing a black jacket.Ella Harget-Dash/BBC
Protest organiser Nicole Gibson believes an offshore grid is an alternative to erecting pylons on land

Campaigners fighting plans for a 114-mile (184km) line of pylons across the East of England claim they have "not been given a choice" over the proposals.

The comment came at a protest against National Grid's scheme to erect pylons across Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex to carry electricity from offshore windfarms.

Nicole Gibson, who organised Saturday's protest walk near Ingatestone in Essex, said: "Something had to be done."

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the plan would help deliver "clean power by 2030".

Sir Keir Starmer recently said the overground pylons were needed to secure cheaper electricity.

Ms Gibson, 47, said: "We're not being given a choice."

"We've not had an option - it's basically there will be pylons.

"They are going to come straight through your home and your countryside, and there's nothing you can do about it.

"We've sent letters upon letters saying that we object and that we're happy to go off grid, that's how much we object."

'Suffering'

Ella Harget-Dash/BBC Paul and Jackie Thompson are facing the camera with expressionless faces. They are standing with a black sign that reads, in white writing, 'National Grids 180km mental health crisis'. Other protesters can be seen in the background.Ella Harget-Dash/BBC
Paul and Jackie Thompson said they had been trying to sell their home, but had not been able to find a buyer

The walkers included Paul Thompson and his wife Jackie, both 58, from Coggeshall, in Essex.

"We've got the pylons coming across our land," Mr Thompson explained.

"We're going to have a road put in, our horses will have to be moved - we've got elderly horses that won't be able to take the stress and will have to be destroyed.

"Our mental health is suffering beyond anything I could have imagined."

Ella Harget-Dash/BBC A photo of Jenny Keen. She is standing by the side of a protest sign. She is wearing a black puffer coat with black gloves and black leggings. She has black hair and is wearing black gasses. Other protesters can be seen behind her.Ella Harget-Dash/BBC
Jenny Keen also wants an offshore scheme instead of pylons on land

Jenny Keen, 46, from Little Burstead, near Billericay, said she felt people did not "realise the destruction that's going to happen".

She said: "We're meant to be working toward protecting our environment, being aware of climate change and it feels completely at odds at what we should be doing as a country overall."

'A viable alternative'

Ella Harget-Dash/BBC Alex Burghart is facing the camera wearing a navy suit with a light blue tie and white shirt. He has brown hair and is wearing glasses. He stands on a track road with fields behind him and electricity lines.Ella Harget-Dash/BBC
Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar, Alex Burghart, said he would continue to support the fight against the plans

Alex Burghart, Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar, said: "Understandably, people are very frustrated because we know that there is a viable alternative."

He said he believed an offshore grid, or underground cables, were "perfectly workable ideas".

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson has said: “Securing Britain's clean energy future will require improving infrastructure to get renewable electricity on the grid.

"Without this infrastructure, we will never deliver clean power for the British people.

"National Grid has put the Norwich to Tilbury proposals out for public consultation and local concerns will be engaged with through this process."

A spokesperson for National Grid added: "Every piece of feedback is being carefully reviewed and analysed to help inform the further development of our proposals, before submitting the Development Consent Order (DCO) application in 2025."

"The key topics raised in the consultation and our response to the feedback will be published in the Consultation Report, submitted as part of the DCO application."

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