NATIONAL Grid is launching a 12-week consultation next month over how electricity should be carried through Cumbria – including its ‘favoured’ plan to lay power lines under Morecambe Bay. 

The company says it wants to ‘strike a balance’ between protecting the county’s landscape and providing the cheapest possible power. 

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The new electric lines will be needed to link the proposed Moorside nuclear power station in West Cumbria and the Walney Island offshore wind farm into the country’s main power grid. 

National Grid has said its preferred option to link the new power cables to the network at Heysham is a 12-mile tunnel under Morecambe Bay. 

But another option is to run the power lines over land, including part of South Lakeland. 

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said South Lakelanders should oppose the latter option. 

“I would urge local residents to join in the consultation and keep pylons out of the national park,” he said. 

National Grid project manager Robert Powell said: “We have to find a way of making these vital new connections in a way which treads as lightly as possible on the treasured landscapes.”

More than 30 consultation sessions have been arranged, including: 


Sept 18 - 1pm-8pm, Dalton Drill Hall, Nelson Street, Dalton-in-Furness 

Sept 20 - 10am-3.30pm, Cartmel Village Hall, Cartmel

Sept 24 - 2.30pm-8pm, Buccleuch Hall, The Green, Lindal-in-Furness; 

Sept 30 - 1pm-8pm, Friends Meeting House, Stramongate, Kendal; 

Oct 10 - 1pm-8pm, Station Buildings, Marine Road West, Morecambe; 

Oct 15 - 1pm-8pm, The Community Hall, Grizebeck, Kirkby-in-Furness; 

Oct 28 - 1pm-8pm, Ulverston Victoria High School, Springfield Road, Ulverston; 

Nov 1 - 10am-3.30pm, Askam Community Centre, Duke Street, Askam-in-Furness; 

Nov 7 - 1pm-8pm, Broughton Victory Hall, Station Road, Broughton-in-Furness

 For more information, visit www.northwestcoastconnections.com