Agenda item

The Council will consider any urgent matters submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 3(xv), 11.3(b) and/or 13(p).

Earlier on in the meeting (Minute 18 above refers) and for the reasons reported therein, Councillors Fairley, Stock OBE, G V Guglielmi and V E Guglielmi had each declared a Personal Interest in the subject matter of this item as reported below.

The Chairman informed Council that, pursuant to the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 13(p), he had agreed to allow the consideration of an urgent Motion on Notice. That Motion, the text of which had been circulated to all Members of the Council in advance of the date of the meeting, had been submitted by Councillor Stock OBE and read as follows:-

“National Grid’s East Anglia Green Project, proposes an energy transmission route consisting of the construction of 180km of 50m tall pylons carrying 400kV cables through the entire central length of our County (as well as through our neighbours, Norfolk and Suffolk), save for a section of undergrounding at Dedham Vale.  

This Council has already expressed declared a climate emergency and an ambition to be net zero by 2050 so plans for renewable wind farms off the East Anglian coast are welcomed. However, this Council has serious concerns about the nature and short-period of consultation, the route, and how carbon-heavy the proposed scheme of overhead pylons are which rely on 100 year-old technology.

Furthermore, this Council believes that: 

·   There has been insufficient consideration of alternative approaches which would allow for the required infrastructure but without the sheer scale of the damage to the environment, landscape and the difficulties of this project going ahead, all at the same time as multiple large-scale infrastructure projects which have the potential to cause major disruption across the East of England. 

·    New offshore generated electricity should be transmitted offshore, which is why an offshore grid is needed. This is firmly in the interests of both residents and business, offshore windfarms themselves and wider interests e.g. Freeport East. Such an alternative approach would future-proof the network and could avoid all the physical constraints of an above or below-ground solution, retain ease of access for ongoing maintenance and provide a more direct point of connection for any current or future off-shore wind farms. 

·   This pylon infrastructure is neither wanted nor needed considering the viable option of undersea power cables. These cables could transport power to where it is needed, helping future proof energy supplies and boost energy security, without adversely impacting on residents, businesses and communities across Essex. 

This Council therefore calls upon: 

·       Both the Government and National Grid to refocus the East Anglia Green Proposals on an offshore solution and engage in meaningful discussions with Essex and its neighbouring County Councils to achieve this.

National Grid to:

·       Provide this Council with all the information asked for in our response of 16 June by 30 August 2022.

·       Make publicly available full, open and transparent information on all options, including offshore and undergrounding, to enable evaluation and comparisons to be made by Essex residents, businesses, Councils and other stakeholders. This information to be publicly available for a period of at least 6 months before any Development Control Order (DCO) application is made.”

Councillor Stock OBE formally moved the Motion, which was then seconded by Councillor G V Guglielmi.

Councillor Stock explained the purpose of the Motion which was for this Council, on behalf of the residents of Tendring, and together with fellow Essex Councils, to make it very clear to both the Government and National Grid (NG) that there were grave concerns about the nature and short duration of NG’s consultation, the proposed route (and the sheer scale of its damage to the landscape of East Anglia), and the proposed scheme of overhead pylons reliant as they are on a 100 year-old carbon-heavy technology. Furthermore, this Council, on a strategic level, should be advocating that new offshore generated electricity should be transmitted offshore, which was why an offshore grid employing the viable option of undersea power cables was needed. This would be firmly in the interests of both residents and business, offshore windfarms themselves and wider interests e.g. Freeport East. Such an alternative approach would future-proof the network and could avoid all the physical constraints of an above or below-ground solution, retain ease of access for ongoing maintenance and provide a more direct point of connection for any current or future off-shore wind farms and boosting energy security.

Councillors G V Guglielmi, Baker, Scott, Allen, Fairley, White and Bray addressed the Council during the course of the debate on Councillor Stock OBE’s Motion.

On being put to the vote Councillor Stock OBE’s Motion was declared unanimously CARRIED.