The
Snowdonia National Park is crossed by two major sections of high voltage (400Kv)
National Grid transmission lines with big pylons. One runs from west of
Abergwyngregyn on the north Wales coast through Bwlch y Ddeufaen to Dolgarrog
in the Conwy valley. The second in the south runs from the Dwyryd estuary at Llandecwyn to Trawsfynydd and across the
Migneint to Bala.
 |
| Emerging from beneath the Glaslyn estuary and onwards to Trawsfynnydd and across the Migneint |
The UK
government through OFGEN has set aside £500 million mainly for undergrounding
sections of the National Grid in protected landscapes (National Parks and Areas
of Outstanding Natural Beauty) across Britain. An initial consultation took
place earlier this year and it is anticipated that there will be an opportunity
at a later stage to identify which areas should be the priorities for
undergrounding.
Snowdonia
has a greater length of National Grid powerlines than any other National Park
in Wales and, across the UK, only the South Downs National Park has more. The Snowdonia Society will be arguing the case
along with others to ensure that Snowdonia gets its fair share.
Before you
get carried away please remember that the total fund for all the protected
landscapes in the UK is £500m. Each kilometre of overhead cabling costs £1.5m
and underground cabling costs much more and depends upon the complexity of the
geography. Recent figures for undergrounding in Powys suggest that each
kilometre might be £7 to £8 million i.e. the total pot for the UK is equivalent
to 60 to 70 kilometres and within Snowdonia alone there are 53 kilometres. If
we could get 6 or 7 kilometres that would be a fair share.
It will be
important therefore to highlight those sections of the existing routes which are
particularly damaging; perhaps where they cross over important open spaces
where there is little cover, or where they are very prominent from main roads,
or especially damaging to ecosystems.
We would welcome your suggestions using the comment facility below, or to director@snowdonia-society.org.uk, so that the Society can put forward a well thought out short list for consideration. More information about the consultation can be found here.
