Newsletter
January 2010
The New Year’s Newsletter brought news of meetings and contact with other campaigning organisations from which we are developing our response to NG This along with the presentation of our first draft of an undersea grid strategy that would lead to a pylon free landscape within the foreseeable future.
New Year's News Letter
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
After a highly valuable and packed Public Meeting in Twinstead Church late in November you could be forgiven for thinking that it's all gone quiet on the SVU front. But this is far from the truth and since then the core members of the group have been hard at work . Some members have been working to forge links with other organisations who campaign to rid our landscape of the blight of pylons and we have met with members of both Groton Pylon Alliance (GPA) and Bury not Blight. Both of these groups campaign in other parts of the National Grid consultation area against the pylon proposals.
GPA's website is at:- www.groton-pylon-alliance.co.uk
We are also actively working to forge links with high profile celebrities with the objective of bringing our campaign to public notice. We have also forged links with members of groups fighting similar pylon proposals in other parts of the country. Of particular note is the campaign in Somerset where a comprehensive refutation of National Grids proposals and indeed the consultation process has been developed along with the view that the proposed power lines should be put undersea, along the coast. You can see from their web site just how closely their campaign objectives mirror ours. Go to:-
www.pylonthepressure.co.ukand their associated Facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=217854026306&ref=ts- to which they are looking to recruit more members.
Currently, we are collaborating with other local organisations with an interest in the pylons issue in developing a comprehensive response to National Grid's proposals. In brief, our response will include:-
•the complete rejection ofall of NG's "corridors" on environmental, economic and other grounds
•the comprehensive rejection of the validity of the consultation process which has clearly not put all reasonable alternatives for getting the power from the coming east coast generators to London before the public at NG's "consultation events".
•to present a 21st century solution to distributing the energy from the new renewable energy generators that is right for the whole country, right for the environment and is a road map to a pylon free UK
Ever since the establishment of SVU we have strived not only to oppose the inflicting of ugly pylons on our landscape but also to take a very positive stance, researching and informing all who are interested in this issue. We have also researched and developed strategies to rid our countryside of the blight of pylons. To this end we have gone through a process of developing strategies, assessing them, consulting with other groups on them and in most cases finding that they do not suit all of us.
But the good news is that this lead us to step back from just the local issue and look at the problem of distributing bulk electricity across the whole of the UK and from a pan European perspective. This has lead us to a strategy that solves the problem of finding a solution that suits us all. What's more, it uses technology that is reported as having the fulsome support of the CEO of National Grid!
Stour Valley Undergrounds draft UK Ring Main strategy paper is available now on the web site:-
Please take a look at what we are proposing. We are convinced that this is the right solution for the entire country and that it provides a road map thatwithin the foreseeable future, leadsto a totally pylon free landscape for the UK.
The proposal is in draft form and we need your opinion and your input to it so please do not hesitate to send us your comments to
Newsletter released 19th January 2010
by David Holland, Court House, Church Road, Twinstead, Essex, CO10 7NA,
Tel: 01787 269693
on behalf of Stour Valley Underground
