Following points made by the county council during the examination process, the Secretary of State has agreed that National Grid should not wield so much control over the delivery of the project, recognising instead that local authorities are integral to the proper and fair delivery of NSIPs.
Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, said:
“Whilst not a perfect proposal, and one which the council did feel the need object to, I’m pleased with this council’s influence in setting some precedents for future infrastructure projects.
“The recognition of the role of this council, and others like us, sends a strong message to National Grid and other project promoters, that they cannot just do as they wish.
“My hope is that other projects sit up and take note – protecting local communities is of paramount importance, something we continually fight for.”
The county council had formally objected to the application, concluding that National Grid had failed to adequately safeguard Suffolk’s environment and communities affected by the scheme. It felt that proposals did not go far enough to mitigate the impact of the scheme, and that supervision of construction would be inadequate.
There were disappointments in the approval decision, such as working hours to include weekends and bank holidays. However, certain locations will be exempt from these hours, which is encouraging for other communities where NSIPs are yet to be approved.
Cllr Rout continues:
“Although we would still prefer to see better mitigations with this project, I feel this is a step in the right direction and hopefully sees an end to project promoters thinking they can have a free-for-all approach and ignore local authorities.
“With such a barrage of projects from solar farms to pylons, substations to interconnectors, all wanting a piece of Suffolk, it is our duty to stand with our communities to protect our residents, businesses and our historic, beautiful and environmentally-rich county.”
The project will see 18 km of overhead lines and around 11 km of underground cable through the Dedham Vale National Landscape and in the Stour Valley.
