“Thank you for giving “Anglesey Says No to Pylons” the opportunity for giving our views on the National Grid Electricity Transmission plc (NGET) proposal for the North Wales Connection.

The key themes are: impact on tourism, impact on farming, impact on house valuation, impact on visual amenity, impact on designated landscapes, unacceptable social costs, flawed consultation, poor public engagement, failure to follow Government Policy, failure to the follow the Holford Rules, historically and culturally inappropriate

Our views on the Wylfa Newydd DCO are irrelevant for this proposal, but it goes without saying that any generator needs to be connected to the power demand, so we fully agree with a connection existing for Wylfa Newydd, Orthios and any future generators, however, we totally disagree with all other aspects of the proposed development

1. NGET and Horizon have not followed the guidance in The Planning Act 2008, and at no point has the genuine cumulative impact of the development in total (ie Wylfa Newydd and the North Wales Connection) been assessed or consulted on

2. There are numerous instances where NGET have not followed the advice in Government policy (EN-1 and EN-5)

3. The consultation was ineffective and not carried out in good faith. NGET had already published plans in 2009 three years before it commenced and the only statutory consultation in 2016 did not consider any other options Although NGET pretended to evaluate other options in 2012, the people of Pembrokeshire and the Wirral were not consulted

4. While hundreds of people responded to the consultation, over 13,000 have signed our petition against the proposals

5. Engagement since the consultation has felt patronising and some landowners report feeling intimidated

6. The tenth edition of Planning Policy Wales is quite clear that the preference of the Welsh Government is for all new connections to be underground. This will have no impact on the feasibility of the power station

7. The additional costs are estimated at some 11p/year on an average UK electricity bill of £554 – an increase of 0.02%, affordable even to vulnerable households suffering fuel poverty

8. Despite frequent requests, NGET have refused to consider modifications to the existing line to reduce visual disamenity, and comply with current routing guidance, yet have included modifications to facilitate the new line

9. Of the seven “Holford Rules”, NGET ignore all of them for the modifications to the existing line, and follow only one of them for the new line

10. NGET have not planned for the use of the third Menai crossing which could reduce costs by £200 million

11. While NGET are not bound by The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, pylons are a poor legacy for future generations

12. Other technology exists (underground and subsea), which does not have the negative effects of pylons. Underground is acceptable to Horizon

13. Anglesey and Wales are self-sufficient in energy. The pylons will serve mainly to export power to the south east of England. While hosting a power station the island should not have to bear the visual intrusion of pylons

14. All levels of democratic representation (Council, AM, MP) have spoken against the proposals

15. NGET are using the presence of one pylon line to justify a second, on the (false) assumption that people are now used to the presence of these towers. It is well known that further reactors are likely at Wylfa in addition to Wylfa Newydd. If there is no change in Government policy (EN-5) a second row will be used to justify even more lines

16. Had the AONB designation been in place earlier, it is unlikely that much of the existing line could have used pylons. As NGET propose significant modification to this line, current design guidance should be followed

17. Pylons will be detrimental to views of the countryside, particularly views from within, and views of, the AONB, iconic views of Snowdonia National Park and the landscape setting of numerous historic features

18. Pylons will be detrimental to the tourism industry through a spoilt, blighted, stigmatised and “industrial”, landscape

19. Pylons will be detrimental to farming due to permanent land loss and restricted practices

20. Pylons will be detrimental to house value due to loss of visual amenity, blight and stigma

21. The “social costs” of this proposal, estimated at £500 million, outweigh the additional cost of undergrounding

22. NGET ignore the social costs in their evaluation methodology, despite UK Government and EU guidance

23. Pylons will hinder Ofgem achieving their principal objective “… to protect the interests of existing and future electricity … consumers”

24. The whole of the Anglesey landscape is recognised by UNESCO as a Geo Park for the geological and geomorphological features (not just the coast as NGET imply)

25. There is a huge amount of scientific research into the health effects of pylons (EMFs) on people and farm animals. There are different views, but learning from early research into tobacco in the 1950’s, the precautionary principle should be followed

We would urge the Examining Authority to visit Cemaes, Llanfechell, Rhosgoch, Rhosybol, Llandyfrydog, Maenaddwyn, Capel Coch, Talwrn and Star, to see for themselves the current blight and try to imagine the view with a second line
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