Councillors support bid for wind farm power lines to be buried underground
A cross party approach being taken in a bid to ensure wind farms in the county are connected to the grid via underground cables rather than pylons, has been welcomed.
At a Powys County Council meeting on Thursday, March 7 a motion was put forward by cabinet member for a connected Powys, Liberal Democrat Councillor Jake Berriman on the issue.
He wanted the council to ask the Welsh Government: “to commission an independent study, with comparative trials as appropriate, into the technical viability of cable ploughing being deployed extensively for the largest power lines to serve the energy parks arising from the Government’s renewable energy plans for the county, to minimise ongoing visual impacts.”
The topic has been raised again due to planning applications deemed to be Developments of National Significance (DNS) which will be dealt with by Welsh Government planning inspectors that propose using pylons to take energy produced in Powys to be connected to the energy grid.
Plaid Cymru group leader, Councillor Elwyn Vaughan said that his party had gained assurances from the Welsh Government that underground cabling is seen as the preferred option.
Councillor Vaughan said: “I welcome the proposal as present and I’m happy to see the Liberals joining in with this campaign that many of us have been working on for the last few months.
“Cefin Campbell (Plaid Cymru MS for Mid and West Wales) and indeed Russell George (Conservative Montgomeryshire MS) have been following this up and we need a united front locally to push for underground cabling.
