Parish council presents MP with pylon report and calls for a 'Sea change'

WOODSPRING MP Liam Fox was at Wraxall this weekend to be presented with a parish council report warning of the perils of overhead pylons.

Proposals by National Grid to build 37-miles of high voltage super cable strung across massive steel structures taller than Nelson’s column has been debated in parish and town council chambers up and down North Somerset and by Government ministers in the House of Commons.

Dr Fox had told fellow parliamentarians on Monday night of his fears for the health, wealth and happiness of his constituents if the plans are approved.

During the adjournment debate Dr Fox was joined by four fellow Conservatives John Penrose (Weston), David Heathcoat-Amory (Wells) and Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater) – and supported by Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest, East).

They spoke of their concerns for their communities and the countryside to Government minister David Kidney and questioned the democratic process which allows the Infrastructure Planning Commission to decide.

On Saturday afternoon Dr Fox was at All Saint’s church new Cross Tree Centre to be presented with a 77-page report plus addendum from Wraxall & Failand Parish Council setting out the case for a route under the Bristol Channel.

The new £250,000 community building was officially opened by the Bishop of Taunton, Peter Maurice, last December, and it is where the parish council now holds its six annual Wraxall meetings.

Chairman Chris Ambrose congratulated Dr Fox for securing the adjournment debate which has been well received locally.

He said: “I would also like to thank our MP, Dr Liam Fox, for giving up his time to join us today, it is much appreciated.

“I would like to handover our Wraxall & Failand parish council’s response to National Grid’s proposals for overhead transmission lines.

“We have done this in the form of a report, I would ask Liam to use the contents as he sees fit.

“We believe our report challenges and informs National Grid and hopefully will encourage them to make a ‘sea change’ in their thinking.”

Mr Ambrose added he hoped reason would prevail and ‘we can reach statement of common ground and know what our differences are’.

The Wraxall and Failand report disputes many of the assumptions put forward by National Grid and argues that putting the cables subsea is a ‘viable and no more expensive’ alternative.

Earlier this month the Scottish government had approved plans for a 137-mile network of 800 pylons, some more than 200ft in height running from the Highlands to central Scotland.

The Beauly to Denny project, an upgrade of the existing line, attracted 18,000 objections.

But the Scottish government said it was vital for unlocking Scotland's potential as a renewable energy powerhouse.

Dr Fox Liam said the decision in the Scottish Parliament set a ‘dangerous precedent’ but that was Scotland and not England.

He added: “After Monday night the debate was the talk of the House of Commons tea rooms for some days.

“MPs could not believe what National Grid was proposing and its affect on our communities and countryside.”