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Pylon bill discount an 'insult' to residents

Paul Murphy
Environment Correspondent
BBC A woman with curly ginger hair and wearing black rimmed glasses, a blue hoodie and turquoise t-shirt is standing in a garden looking into the camera.BBC
Sue Harrison, from Spalding, says a proposed electricity substation will "dominate" the views from her rural home

Residents living close to proposed pylons have described a scheme to compensate them as an "insult" and a "bribe".

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband recently announced plans to offer residents living within 500m (1,640ft) of infrastructure a discount on their electricity bills of £250 per year for 10 years as a way of "recognising the service" they were doing for the country.

Sue Harrison, who lives in rural Lincolnshire where her home could soon overlook pylons and a substation, said it felt like he was "trying to get round everybody for the destruction he is going to cause".

Ministers said the scheme would slash energy bills in their bid for a more prosperous and energy secure future.

An electricity pylon in a field next to a road, with a red car driving past. It is late afternoon and the sun is setting behind clouds.
Several large electricity infrastructure projects are planned for the east of England

There are 17 large electricity projects planned for England and Wales, part of what National Grid calls The Great Grid Upgrade.

In Lincolnshire, this involves a number of cable routes that will bring electricity ashore from offshore wind farms in the North Sea, using pylons to connect to a number of large land-based substations.

One of the largest of these substations is proposed for farmland at Weston Marsh, near Spalding, where the project will cover about 30 acres.

Resident Teresa Webb believes her family home could qualify for the discount but said it would not offset the loss in value to her property.

"I am absolutely disgusted," she said.

"We're going to lose more than £250,000 [on the value of her home]. We've lived here for 26 years and we enjoy the lack of people here but that's all going to change."

A woman with grey hair, wearing a pink fleece top and a red coat. She is standing in a gravel driveway of her home and there is a car in the background with its boot open.
Teresa Webb lives close to Weston Marsh, an area where a electricity substation is being proposed

The scheme was launched earlier this month and aims to recognise the impact of pylons, cables and substations on local communities.

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: "We owe it to the people of this country to get Britain building again.

"It is no longer a question of whether we build the new infrastructure we need but a question of how and this must be done in lockstep with local communities."

There is growing opposition to the proposals, especially in rural areas, and a warning that the countryside could be industrialised.

National Grid Two large green and white buildings side by side in the middle of fields with wind turbines in the backgroundNational Grid
National Grid's Bicker Fen substation near Spalding is already operational

Mrs Harrison fears that the look of the landscape around her home is going to change.

"We have no idea how big this is all going to be or what it will eventually look like, but we are sure that a lot of industrialisation is on the way," she said.

Mrs Harrison said she was also concerned about the loss of farmland.

She added: "Food security is essential. It must surely be the first priority to the government?

"£250 a year is a drop in the ocean."

John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, said he welcomed the scheme.

"It is right that communities see enduring, tangible benefits for hosting transmission infrastructure on behalf of the country," he said.

"We are pleased to see this guidance issued and look forward to continuing to work in partnership with communities to deliver long-lasting, meaningful benefits alongside critical infrastructure."

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