BASILDON Council's leader has objected to a massive overhead pylons route planned as part of a huge National Grid project to run power cables through south Essex.

National Grid is proposing to build approximately 184km of new electricity cables from Norwich to Tilbury, for which it held a consultation from April 10 to July 26. 

Basildon Council bosses have "argued strongly" for the power lines to be dug into the ground, with Cllr Gavin Callaghan, Labour leader of Basildon Council insisting the calls are to protect greenbelt land and green space.

Speaking in his latest weekly Facebook live video, he said: "One of the other issues that we are confronting at the moment, some of you may know about it, some of you might not, is the issue of the pylons. There is a proposal in place to run a major UK power network with pylons from Norwich, in East Anglia, all the way through to Tilbury, around the Freeport in Tilbury.

"So that's a huge scheme, in order to increase the energy on the grid and be able to power things like more electric vehicles, to be able to power more homes all that kind of stuff, we are told we need and need to be thinking about in terms of the future, being able to reduce our energy bills.

"But these pylons and this scheme is causing some problems, and what I have said, and what Basildon Council has said, is that instead of having pylons in fields around West Horndon, and on the west of the borough around Billericay, coming down towards Tilbury, that that area should be dug and the pylons should go under the ground and the electricity wires should go underground rather than be on pylons.

"So, we've had to submit a consultation response to the Government about that, that's what we've argued for really strongly, that we want this to be underground so we are not ruining any of the green space in and around the west of our borough, and that we are looking after the greenbelt, and those green spaces as well."

National Grid says on its website: "Norwich to Tilbury will play a vital role in delivering electricity efficiently, reliably, and safely and will support the UK's move to reduce carbon emissions. Norwich to Tilbury is a proposal by National Grid Electricity Transmission (National Grid) to reinforce the high voltage power network in East Anglia between the existing substations at Norwich Main in Norfolk, Bramford in Suffolk, and Tilbury in Essex, as well as connect new offshore wind generation.

"We are proposing to build approximately 184 km of new electricity transmission reinforcement between Norwich and Tilbury. This will be made up mostly of overhead line and pylons, along with some underground cables and a new 400 kV substation. Our proposals are part of The Great Grid Upgrade – the largest overhaul of the grid in generations." 

The firm is now reviewing the feedback received during this consultation to help it to further refine its proposals ahead of submitting our application for a development consent order to the Planning Inspectorate in 2025.