Agenda item

To seek the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee’s comments on revised proposals from the National Grid for the ‘Norwich to Tilbury’ (formerly East Anglia GREEN) and a draft response from Tendring District Council to the current, second non-statutory consultation exercise.

Earlier on in the meeting, as detailed under Minute 3 above, Councillor Fairley had declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and a Non-Registerable Interest in relation to this item. Councillor Fairley had further informed the Committee that a Dispensation had been granted to her by the Council’s Monitoring Officer both in relation to the DPI and the Non-Registerable Interest pursuant to the criteria of Section 33(2)(c) of the Localism Act 2011.

In addition, Councillor Turner had declared for the public record that he was the Ward Member for Frinton-on-Sea, which would be affected by the cable routes coming ashore from the proposed off shore windfarms.

The Committee considered a report of the Director (Planning) (A.2),  which sought its comments on revised proposals from the National Grid for the ‘Norwich to Tilbury’ (formerly East Anglia GREEN) and also in relation to a draft response from Tendring District Council to the current, second non-statutory consultation exercise.

Members were aware that the UK Government was committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.  Consequently, the way electricity was generated in the UK was changing rapidly. New offshore windfarms had a key part to play in the transition to cheaper, greener more secure sources of energy.  This was the second round of non-statutory consultation by the National Grid on the proposed upgrade to the transmission network between Norwich and Tilbury.  The purpose of this consultation was to present revised proposals having assessed feedback received at the initial consultation in spring 2022, and to seek comments on those revisions.  

The Committee was reminded that in order to ensure the power network had the capacity to accommodate a projected increase in demand for electricity generated from renewable means, National Grid was proposing the ‘Norwich to Tilbury’ project. This involved:

•    A new 400kV powerline between Norwich and Bramford (near Ipswich);

•    A new 400kV powerline between Bramford and Tilbury; and

•    A new 400kV substation - the East Anglian Connection Node (EACN) in the Tendring District area to facilitate the connection to the proposed North Falls Offshore Windfarm, Five Estuaries Offshore Windfarm – both of which were to be located off the Tendring District coast, and a 1400MW interconnector between the UK and Germany being developed by Tarchon Energy.

It was reported that as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), the planning process would be overseen by central Government and a specialist unit within the Planning Inspectorate. National Grid would be seeking a ‘Development Consent Order’ (DCO) from Government, as opposed to planning permission from the local authority – however local authorities like Tendring District Council would be consultees in the process.

Members were aware that the project was currently at its second, non-statutory consultation where National Grid were inviting comments on its revised proposals.  It had commenced on Tuesday 27th June 2023 and would close on Monday 21st August 2023.  National Grid had a programme of briefing sessions for stakeholders, communities and other interested parties – some of which had already taken place. The intention was to proceed to a statutory consultation in 2024, the submission of the DCO application in 2025, an examination and decision process over the course of 2025 to 2026. Construction would commence in 2027 and the project would be fully operational from 2031.

In anticipation that the North Falls and Five Estuaries Offshore Windfarms (which would be the subject of their own DCO process) would connect to the grid in Tendring, it was proposed that there would be a large electricity substation (EACN) in the Tendring District. This would enable connection of the windfarms and the proposed 1400MW Tarchon Energy interconnector to the new 400kV Norwich to Tilbury powerline.

The Committee was informed that the preferred location of the EACN substation was close to the existing 132kV substation south of Lawford and west of Little Bromley. The land-take would be around 20hectares (taking into account the need for landscaping).  It was also anticipated that two additional 132kV ‘customer’ substations serving each of the two separate windfarms could be located in and around the same area.

The Committee was advised that the preferred route for the 400kV powerline would enter the District of Tendring to the north of Ardleigh, coming in through the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and joining the EACN.  Overhead pylons would then run out of the EACN substation passing further north of Ardleigh than previously proposed.  As part of the revised proposals the undergrounding of the cables would run continuously through the AONB to the substation at Lawford.

It was reported that Essex County Council was working on behalf of all affected local authorities to coordinate a technical response to each stage of the DCO project. However, Tendring District Council (TDC) could provide its own response and might wish to do so from a community perspective.

Informed by initial feedback from communities and informal discussion with TDC Members, Officers had prepared a draft response to the non-statutory consultation on which comments were invited from the Planning Policy and Local Planning Committee. With the agreement of the Leader of the Council and the Housing & Planning Portfolio Holder, it was intended that a final version of the response would be submitted to National Grid before the consultation period closed on 21st August 2023.

It was suggested by Officers that the response included the following points and observations:

·      “The Council recognises that this proposal will be determined through the NSIP process by central government, supports the comments submitted via Essex County Council but wishes to make a number of comments on behalf of its communities.

·      Concern that alternative routes, including a potential underground route for powerlines beneath the seabed around the coast have been discounted and suggest that such options are considered further.

·      Lack of information on the Tarchon Energy Interconnector means a further consultation will be required as we are at present unable to comment.

·      Concern about the landscape, visual and potential health impact of giant overhead pylons, particularly where they run close to existing communities such as Ardleigh.

·      Concern that overhead powerlines are a technology that has been in place for some 100 years and are known to lose a considerable amount of power along the length of their route and are considered an inefficient and outdated means of transporting energy.

·      Suggest that more of the powerline route is underground – particularly the relatively short stretches between the EACN, Ardleigh and out towards Colchester.

·      Concern about the scale and height of the substation in the preferred location and the impact on rural lanes during the construction period – particularly if two customer substations are likely to be sited in a similar location.

·      The Tendring District is a key contributor to national renewable energy generation with a large proportion of wind and solar farms being located both within the District and off its coast – however, the communities in Tendring affected by these developments receive all the impacts with little or no tangible benefits.

·      The benefits to the affected communities must be maximised through either some form of planning gain to protection of the local environment, upholding the integrity of the coastline, support for local projects, a focus on providing training and job opportunities and local discounts on energy bills.”

The Chairman drew attention to a press release issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 26 July 2023 on the proposed overhaul of planning in order to speed up the delivery of vital projects including off-shore wind, transport links and other major infrastructure. The related ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects’ public consultation would close on 19 September 2023. Further information on this would be circulated to the Committee in the coming days together with a request to submit any comments thereon to the Director (Planning).

At the invitation of the Chairman, the Housing & Planning Portfolio Holder (Councillor Baker) and the Chairman of the Planning Committee (Councillor Fowler) addressed this Committee on the subject matter of this item.

It was moved by Councillor Chapman BEM, seconded by Councillor Scott and:-

RESOLVED that -

(a)    the comments expressed by Members at the meeting be incorporated within the draft response to the non-statutory consultation on the Norwich to Tilbury project, and that Officers, with the agreement of the Leader of the Council and the Housing & Planning Portfolio Holder, submit a final version of the response to National Grid; and

(b)    Officers, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee and taking into account the comments put forward by members of the Committee, draw up a proposed response to the Government on its ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects’ consultation, which response will then be submitted to the Housing & Planning Portfolio Holder for his consideration.