Bramford to Twinstead power line scheme may be stalled by concerns

A project for high voltage power lines to built between Suffolk and Essex could be stalled, a council heard.

National Grid said it needed to build the 400,000 volt lines between Bramford, near Ipswich, and Twinstead, north of Halstead to connect a number of new generators in the region.

It has proposed an area near Sudbury as the substation location, but that has been met with local opposition.

Braintree District Council has asked for more details from National Grid.

Under the proposals, a substation would be built between Butlers Wood and Waldegrave Wood, off the A131 south of Sudbury, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

National Grid also wants to lay a new transmission line underground in the Stour Valley, from the western side of Alphamstone at Henny Back Road in the Essex village, to the south of Workhouse Green.

Braintree Conservative councillor Wendy Scattergood, for Stour Valley South, said people were concerned about the impact of the infrastructure in that part of Essex.

She told the council's local plan sub committee: "The substation does give a lot of concern locally. It's open countryside on a flat plateau and we are asking for it to be taken further back."

Ms Scattergood said, in response to local concerns, National Grid said it would consider moving the substation further back and/or moving a compound planned for Alphamstone closer to Sudbury, which is on the Suffolk side of the River Stour.

She said if they agreed to either of the proposals, they would "have to go through the whole consultation progress" again.

National Grid has said there was expected to be a "huge increase in the amount of renewable and low carbon electricity generation connecting along the east coast" due to projects including the proposed Sizewell C nuclear plant.

It said while the existing electricity network in East Anglia had been sufficient until now, "it does not have the capability needed to reliably and securely transport all the energy that will be connected by 2030 while working to the required standards".

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