Clee Hill: Cable work removes blot on Shropshire landscape

The view from Clee Hill Common across to the Malvern Hills is rightfully held up as one of Shropshire's finest, but the demands of the modern world had made their presence felt even in such a remote area, with more than half a mile of cabling snaking across the landscape on wooden poles.

Now conservation bodies and a power company have come together to do something about the clutter of cables as 950 metres of overhead electricity lines on Clee Hill Common have been removed and placed underground.

The work involved the removal of 21 wooden poles as well as a switchgear upgrade that will improve the speed of power restoration to 638 homes in the region.

The initiative is part of an ongoing £2.3 million initiative by Western Power Distribution to enhance protected landscapes.

Bruce Pollard, consents and wayleaves manager for Western Power Distribution, said: "This work is being funded through a regulatory-backed initiative to enhance protected landscapes by removing electrical infrastructure like overhead lines.

"We have worked closely with representatives from National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to identify suitable sites for consideration. This has been really helpful to pinpoint high priority schemes and enable the limited funds to be spent as effectively as possible."

Clee Hill Common is the largest of eight sites in the Shropshire Hills AONB that have been transformed to date.

Last year overhead wires at Rhos Fiddle at Crossways and Norbury were removed and similar work has also taken place at Abdon Burf, Picklescott, Bucknell and Woolstaston.

Phil Holden, Shropshire Hills AONB partnership manager, said: "The sites in the Shropshire Hills AONB were agreed with Western Power Distribution following wide local consultation. The work at Clee Hill will improve the visual amenity at one of the AONB's most iconic viewpoints and, in terms of public benefit, this scheme will deliver on a large scale as it is one of the most visited sites in the Shropshire Hills."

Work had also taken place to clear poles and other infrastructure at the popular Clee Hill view point and car park, just off the A4117.