FENLAND FAMILIES CHEATED BY LABOUR’S PYLON PLANS
Are you a resident of Tydd St Giles or Newton, or do you know someone who is? The Grimsby to Walpole proposed new power line runs through Fenland from Tydd St Giles to Newton, and official research shows that anyone living within 1.2 km is likely to lose thousands.
Properties within 1.2km of these looming, visually oppressive, 50m tall pylons could lose 3.6% of their value - that’s £8,100 for the average Fenland home. But the Labour government’s new rules slash compensation, and homes hit hardest get just £2,500 over 10 years, a far cry from the £10,000 promised by the Conservatives. And if you live further than 500m away? You’ll get nothing at all.
Labour’s own energy minister admitted they don’t even assess the impact on house prices ensuring Fenland families are left footing the bill for a national infrastructure project, with next to nothing in return.
Meanwhile, the Labour government is hiding behind a flawed National Grid consultation that masks the true impact on Fenland. They rely on outdated data and vague assumptions to obscure just how many of you will be affected and ensure the dice is loaded to avoid confronting the obvious solution: burying HVDC cables.
Germany has been doing just that since 2015. Their Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy say underground cables are the cheapest route to a successful energy transition. A study for East Anglia backs this up, showing HVDC cables can be laid underground near Norwich for a similar cost to overhead pylons. So why is National Grid pretending it’s “unfeasible”—just 50 miles away?
And what about our farmers? In Australia, landowners receive £106,000 for hosting pylons—on top of acquisition payments. Yet Labour’s cavalier and dismissive attitude towards rural communities leaves British farmers high and dry once again.
The result? Fenland families are getting the worst of both worlds – our landscapes scarred by 50m pylons and compensation slashed to the bone. Current proposals are not fit for purpose and fail to compensate appropriately for hosting the infrastructure.
If Germany and Australia can get it right, why are communities like ours being short-changed?
