More than 1,000 people concerned at proposals to build a massive power station and site pylons across Mid Wales and Shropshire are expected to attend a public meeting today to voice their opinions.

Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies is holding the meeting at Welshpool Livestock Market at 7pm to encourage people to have their say about the plans put forward by National Grid.

Mr Davies, Conservative MP, said that he had been told thousands of people could turn up at the meeting and he planned to make it a “rally” against the plans.

He said: “‘I’ll set the scene and then there will be speakers lined up to give their views on this hugely important issue.

“A lot of people have been wondering why I haven’t been able to attend the public meetings which have been taking place, especially as it’s something that I personally feel very strongly about.

“But because of my commitments in Parliament I haven’t and won’t be able to attend as many meetings as I would have liked, hence why I’ve decided to call my own public meeting,” added the MP.­

Mr Davies said that he had always been opposed to “wind power stations” in the uplands of rural Wales.

“I want people to know how strongly I feel against these proposals and hope the meeting will help me find out what other people in the area think of the plans,” he said.

Dozens of meeting have been held so far in villages and towns across Mid Wales with each one attended by hundreds of concerned people.

Exhibitions have also been held in town and community halls across Shropshire and Mid Wales in areas which could be affected by the proposed pylons or power station.

National Grid bosses announced they would be holding consultation events across the region to find a potential route for a 400,000 volt cable, using either 46-metre high pylons or by routing the cables underground.

The cables will connect windfarms in Mid Wales to the National Grid.

The National Grid’s proposals also include a power station being built in either Abermule, near Newtown, or in Cefn Coch, near Llanfair Caereinion.

By Andrew Morris