£3million set aside to remove "unsightly" power lines from Yorkshire Dales National Park (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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£3million set aside to remove "unsightly" power lines from Yorkshire Dales National Park
1:00pm Sunday 17th March 2013 in News
AN ESTIMATED £3million has been set aside to remove “unsightly” power lines from parts of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
The money will pay for overhead lines to be removed and replaced with underground cables, as part of an existing five-year scheme run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) and power suppliers.
Lines have already been moved underground, including a stretch from Dent Station to Cowgill.
Now residents and visitors are being asked to suggest areas where cables should go in the next few years.
Thomas Harland, the YDNPA’s Planning Policy Officer, said: “We haven’t received confirmation of our final allocation from Ofgem yet, but I think we can confidently estimate it to be about £3 million.
“It takes a long time to plan an undergrounding scheme. This is because it’s hard to find a line that doesn’t create some challenges – whether due to cost, disruption to local communities, wildlife, archaeology, or for technical and logistical reasons.
“This means we need to start working with the power suppliers to plan the next set of schemes as soon as possible – so we’d like to hear suggestions for lines that should be targeted.
“We can’t make any promises because it is common for any combination of the above challenges to undermine scheme feasibility.
“However, once we’ve got some ideas, we’ll sit down with the electricity companies and see which ones they can take forward.”
Ofgem, the regulator of the electricity industry, is in the process of allocating funds for the undergrounding of more power lines in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
A spokesman for the authority added: “More cash has been set aside to get rid of unsightly overhead power lines in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.”
Anyone wanting to put forward a suggestion can contact Mr Harland on 01969-652378 or email him at thomas.harland@yorkshiredales.org.uk.
