Greening the Great Grid Upgrade

A coalition of the eastern region’s leading environmental charities has endorsed this report into the National Grid’s plans for huge new onshore transmission projects, seven of which will have a massive impact on local communities and landscapes in East Anglia.

The proposals by the energy giant are at the heart of its ‘Great Grid Upgrade’, a programme to create a decarbonised transmission system from the new – mainly offshore or coastal – energy generation sources to businesses and households across the country. This includes the proposed new line of pylons from Norwich to Tilbury, currently undergoing a second round of public consultation.

But growing concerns about a lack of well thought-through policies and joined up thinking prompted branches of the CPRE, the countryside charity in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk (the Suffolk Preservation Society) to commission this report by Dr. Andy Tickle, an independent planning and campaign consultant who has worked on energy, planning and environmental issues for over 40 years.

Dr. Tickle’s report provides a detailed critique as to the programme’s strengths and weaknesses and how it might be improved in ways designed to reduce the impacts on the countryside and ensure that impacted communities are properly heard.

May 2024