National Grid Targeted Consultation our response

21 June 2024.  The Parish Council has registered as an interested party for the examination by the Planning Inspector.

A copy of our submission can be found in the downloads section below.

More time to respond

Ardleigh Parish Council with local residents is preparing a detailed objection to the National Grid Plans. This will be published to this page as soon as it is available.

In the meantime, the National Grid deadline has been extended until 11.59pm on 26 July due to the General Election.  

There is a Webinar on Thursday 11 July – 6pm – 7pm with specific detail for Babergh, Tendring and Colchester. 

On Thursday 18 July – 6pm – 7pm, there is an Overview Webinar. The links to register for these can be found here:

https://www.nationalgrid.com/.../public-consultation-and...

Any comments made on previous consultations will not carry forward. You MUST make your comments again to get them heard. This is your final opportunity to respond. Every comment made contributes to giving full representation to residents of Ardleigh.

Ways to respond to the consultations:

Via the National Grid website: www.nationalgrid.com/norwich-to-tilbury

Email to National Grid: contact@n-t.nationalgrid.com

Freepost: use ‘FREEPOST N TO T’ as the address for your letter

Free phone hotline: 0800 915 2497

Feedback forms are also available online, at the drop-in sessions, on request and at inspection points.

For those who haven't already done so, please sign up to this campaign www.pylonseastanglia.co.uk . You can download our responses so far to all the relevant consultations below.

Public meeting 10 May at Ardleigh Village Hall.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make the public meeting run smoothly, including the speakers (Bernard Jenkin, Rosie Pearson, Chris Whitfield and Martin Snook) councillors and residents who leafleted and helped set up and the Rapid Relief Team who provided refreshments.

Thanks also to the 160 residents who attended.

The slides from the session are available to view above or download (with notes) below together with the handout giving suggestions for your individual responses.

Public meeting 10 May at Ardleigh Village Hall.

Details of the formal Statutory Consultation have been announced. Closing date for comments is 18 June 2024 (UPDATE EXTENDED UNTIL 26 JULY DUE TO GENERAL ELECTION). Any comments made on previous consultations will not carry forward. You MUST make your comments again to get them heard. This is your final opportunity to respond. Every comment made contributes to giving full representation to residents of Ardleigh.

The Parish Council continues to campaign against National Grid’s plans, coordinating with the Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylons Campaign. The Council plans to hold another public meeting Friday 10 May 7pm for 7.30pm to fully inform residents. Speakers will be arranged to help explain exactly what the proposed scheme is and how Ardleigh will be affected and include Sir Bernard Jenkin and Rosie Pearson.

Leaflets will be delivered to your homes to give more information and advice. 

National Grid have arranged drop-in sessions. Unfortunately, there is not a session in Ardleigh. Local sessions are in Great Bromley, Lawford and Langham:

Saturday 4 May  - 11am – 4pm

Lawford Venture Centre, Bromley Road, Lawford CO11 2JE

Thursday 16 May – 2pm – 7pm

Langham Community Centre, School Road, Langham CO4 5PA

Friday 17 May – 1pm – 6pm

Great Bromley Village Hall, Parsons Hill, Great Bromley CO7 7JA

There is also a Webinar on Thursday 30 May – 6pm – 7pm. The link to register for this can be found here:

https://www.nationalgrid.com/electricity-transmission/network-and-infrastructure/infrastructure-projects/norwich-to-tilbury/public-consultation-and-programme

Ways to respond to the consultations:

Via the National Grid website: www.nationalgrid.com/norwich-to-tilbury

Email to National Grid: contact@n-t.nationalgrid.com

Freepost: use ‘FREEPOST N TO T’ as the address for your letter

Free phone hotline: 0800 915 2497

Feedback forms are also available online, at the drop-in sessions, on request and at inspection points.

 Public Information Event for residents of Ardleigh and Little Bromley

Thanks to everyone who attended and participated in the Public Information Event  on Friday 15th September at Ardleigh Village Hall. This was organised to share the latest on National Grid, North Falls, Five Estuaries and Tarchon energy infrastructure proposals for Little Bromley and Ardleigh.  There were speakers from Tendring District Council and Essex County Council as well as from Sir Bernard Jenkin MP and Rosie Pearson from Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk Pylons. Copies of the presentations can be uploaded below.

National Grid consultation ran until 21 August 2023 with potentially devastating effects on Ardleigh.

See  Home - Pylons East Anglia  for updates and suggested responses. Our Parish Council continues to oppose this damaging project.  A copy of our response can be downloaded below.

Some key points

Our goal is to prove that the project brings more harm than benefit. That sounds easy, but the Planning Inspector will have to balance national benefit with local harm. Some local harm includes;

• Landscape impact Ardleigh village will be circled on three sides by cabling and will be the site of the NG substation (plus several additional windfarm substations close by). Pylons will run very close to the centre of the village and across the flat landscape adjacent to the AONB. Add examples of views you would lose, and the loss of landscape quality, scenic quality, relative tranquillity etc.
• Heritage Impact Ours is mediaeval village with many listed buildings and a conservation area from which several pylons would be visible.
• Biodiversity impact The planned pylon route goes across a fishing lake earmarked as a Protected Green Space in the Ardleigh Neighbourhood Plan and crosses part of Ardleigh Reservoir. There would be a pylon within the new Country Park (off Wick Lane) once minerals extraction is complete. Think about impact on both landscape and biodiversity in our area.
• Impact on local businesses including farms Many productive arable fields will be lost or damaged for this project at a time when food security is vital. Will your business be affected? Say how.
• Archaeology Ardleigh has had many archaeological finds, there are crop circles and an ancient monument close to the site of the NG substation. The proposed underground section from the substation skirts the edge of this ancient monument and will inevitably dig and disturb ground in an historically significant area.

13 August Campaign Group walk through Ardleigh. meet at Skylark, Prettyfields Vineyard, Dead Lane, Ardleigh CO7 7PF from 10am for 10.30 start.

9 August 2023.  Our Parish Council has distributed a newsletter with updates on the Pylons and Substations campaign and other local news.  A copy can be downloaded below.

9 August update from National Grid 'National Grid are offering online webinar events, the dates, times and registration links are as follows:  

Saturday 12 August – 10-11am     

Thursday 17 August – 10-11am  

If you have not already provided feedback, please note that our consultation closes at midnight on Monday 21 August. 

You can submit your comments digitally using our online feedback form. You can also download and print a copy of our feedback form here.'

14 July Our Parish Council's response to the North Falls statutory consultation is below.

12 May Our Parish Council's response to the Five Estuaries consultation has been submitted and is available to download below.

Update May 2023

FIVE ESTUARIES CONSULTATION - IT MATTERS TO ALL OF US!

"Update below from the regional campaign group- our Parish Council will be responding along the lines below and we would encourage all residents to do the same.

Wind farms ‘Five Estuaries’ and ‘North Falls’ have both been told by National Grid to connect into East Anglia Green PYLONS.   We have met with both and they would happily connect offshore instead.    

Much of National Grid's justification for the pylons is these two wind farms.   We need them to connect offshore and we know that National Grid was looking at advanced offshore coordination scenarios last spring.

Five Estuaries ran its second consultation, until 12 May 2023.   

Update 5 December 2022.  Our Parish Council has submitted comments to the Planning Inspectorate on National Grid's request for a scoping opinion on the Environmental Statement relating to the proposed development (East Anglia GREEN). A copy is available in the downloads below.

Update 21 September 2022

 Another Ardleigh Planning application will be considered at a Tendring Planning Committee next week 27 September. This is the proposed battery storage unit which will be situated very close to the location which National Grid have in mind for their huge substations as part of the controversial East Anglia GREEN project.

We asked for this to be considered by the Planning Committee because of the wider public interest and concerns.  The papers are here https://tdcdemocracy.tendringdc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments... The officer is recommending approval.

Prior to the meeting there will be a site visit (10:45am-10:55am Tuesday 27 September) we can attend but cannot 'take part in any discussion thereat unless specifically invited to do so by the Chairman of the Planning Committee.' Please note that the times shown are approximate and may vary by as much as half an hour either way. 

Residents may wish to attend either the planning committee or site visit.  Speakers are agreed in advance, if you might be interested in speaking please read the paper and liaise with TDC direct.

Update 12 August 2022

Our  Parish Council  has submitted its response to the Five Estuaries offshore Windfarm consultation   Five Estuaries – Offshore wind farm. A copy can be downloaded below.

Update 4 July 2022

The National Grid consultation closed on 16 June and Essex County Council and Tendring District Council, among many others, have strongly objected to the proposals calling for a strategic off-shore grid.  Our own Parish Council’s response and other links to local and regional information is below . A key part of this proposal is a new National Grid substation in Tendring to connect to the new pylons.  If the proposals go ahead, Ardleigh would be uniquely and profoundly affected due to a double line of pylons cutting through the Parish and at least one new substation.  Many other Parishes would also be directly affected.  

Last week we received messages from the two windfarm providers. We assume that your Council may also have been contacted direct?  

• Five Estuaries have launched their consultation on the siting of their proposed underground cabling and new substation see www.fiveestuariesconsultation.co.uk. There are two public exhibitions (in Frinton, Weds 13 July, and Lawford, Thurs 14 July).  Residents have been sent leaflets and they have offered to meet with Parish Councils (we will be taking up this offer). 

 • North Falls have contacted us regarding their own imminent consultation.  Despite calls for co-ordination, we gather that they will be consulting separately on anther substation and underground cabling route, doubling the disruption and potential impact.  

Tendring Show- Saturday 9 July 2022 Working with the Ardleigh Matters Group http://www.ardleighmatters.org.uk/, Ardleigh Parish Councillors will be staffing a stand on show day informing and answering questions, as well as distributing 5000 leaflets about the local impact to the crowd.  Leaflets will be available from the stand.  Please also come along to speak to us to find out more. 

Update 16 June 2022. Our Parish Council response to the consultation has been submitted to National Grid and can be downloaded below.

There is lots of information available about the proposed plans to site a huge network of pylons and a series of new substations in the parish- see Ardleigh Matters – Ardleigh Matters Community Website- http://www.ardleighmatters.org.uk/. The proposed plans will have a big impact on the parish and its village & hamlets, result in the damage & loss of prime agricultural land and ecological habitats, and there is some evidence of health impacts too 

Upgrading the grid and expanding green energy are both crucial to combatting the climate crisis - but a national & international problem needs a national & international solution, not a bodged short term fix  We will be sharing resources here and via the Ardleigh Matters community pages to help you #makeanoise and get National Grid to deliver a national solution! 

There is also a regional group https://www.pylonseastanglia.co.uk/ which is preparing a detailed response to the consultation which is expected to be referenced in our Parish Council's objection (to be discussed at the 13 June Parish Council meeting).

We had until 16 June 2022 to make your views known to National Grid - and here's how we did it: 

1. The Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylons action group survey https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBddWOeGvMMC84GtLJcmviskqdqXNq_0Z72QYwp4wcrkhSag/viewform - before 14 June 

2. The National Grid consultation - before 16 June https://www.nationalgrid.com/electricity-transmission/network-and-infrastructure/infrastructure-projects/east-anglia-green

3.  The petition is still live - please sign and share. 

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/say-no-to-180km-of-essex-suffolk-norfolk-pylons-and-build-a-strategic-offshore-grid?share=41d4961d-a3a3-49b5-a22c-ff1d8bde853d&source=email-share-button&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=email

4. Write to your MP and the secretary of state (example of letter and email addresses on this page)  Attended the National Grid Public Exhibition Saturday 28 May at Lawford Venture Centre, 10-4pm    Follow Ardleigh Matters and Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylons on Facebook for more info 

Ardleigh-specific meetings - thanks to those who attended

Following on from the National Grid Lawford Exhibition, the purpose of these meetings was to provide more information to residents about the impact that the Pylons, Substations and undergrounding of cables will really have on the Parish of Ardleigh, surrounding Parishes and indeed the whole of the Norfolk ,Suffolk and Essex landscapes and way of life.  We also wanted to highlight the alternatives, give guidance on how to write to appropriate people encourage everyone to sign the petition and give tips on completing the NG feedback form.   

Zoom meeting (for those unable to attend the drop in) 7.30 Wednesday 1 June 2022

Slides in downloads below.