Overhead power line plan on Shropshire border takes next step
The next step has been taken in the building of a controversial £13 million overhead power line on the Shropshire border.
A planning application has been lodged to bury or divert a section of the current line to make way for the construction of a new 132kv overhead line between Oswestry and the Legacy power station, near Wrexham.
Permission for the line was given to SP Manweb this year after a three-week public inquiry in 2012. It came despite fears from councils on both sides of the border that the line would be detrimental to the countryside and tourism.
The firm has now submitted an application to Shropshire Council planners to "underground" or divert a section of the existing 33kv line at Lower House Farm, Pen-y-Bryn, St Martins.
SP Manweb is asking the council to indicate that it has no objection to the work. The letter says the work is exempted from the usual planning process by the Overhead Lines (Exemption) Regulations 2009. And it adds that the council has the option to ask the Department of Energy to consider the application.
Shropshire Council is expected to make a decision by November 19. The authority did initially object to the 13-mile power line but withdrew the objection after the company changed the design of the pole that it will use.
However, representatives of Wrexham Council, Chirk Town Council and St Martins Parish Council gave evidence against the plans, saying they wanted all or part of the new line to be buried underground. Councillor Ian Roberts, who represents Chirk on Wrexham Council, said today he was disappointed the plans were going ahead.
He said: "It is a beautiful part of the area and I think we all wanted it to be put underground."
SP Manweb told the inquiry the upgraded line was essential to ensure supply to 85,000 customers.
