Here in Somerset, National Grid is planning to install a line of new pylons in order to connect Hinkley Point C Nuclear power station to Avonmouth, running right across the Somerset Levels & Moors. Along with local campaign groups, we have opposed these plans and are insistent that the electricity cables should be placed either underground or along the direct undersea route up the Bristol Channel.  National Grid has now agreed to "underground" the cables where they cross the Mendip Hills AONB but it is still sticking to pylons – the new, T-Pylons elsewhere along the route. These will be routed through some of our most beautiful and fragile landscapes, already at severe risk of losing their tranquillity and rural character as a result of other development.

Our view We are one of a number of organisations calling for a ‘smart grid’ of pylons, which would make the best use of existing energy resources and avoid harm to our most important areas of countryside. We believe the current proposals for the Hinkley C Connection Project will have an unacceptable impact on our landscapes and the transmission lines should be buried underbround or subsea.