Shropshire Council leader Keith Barrow has written an angry letter to the First Minister of Wales over a policy document he fears could lead to massive pylons being built near idyllic rural villages in the county.

Councillor Barrow said he was furious the authority was not consulted over Technical Advice Note 8. The Welsh Assembly Government document identifies Mid Wales as an important location for renewable energy.

It puts forward areas in the region suitable for wind farm developments.

Mr Barrow wrote to Carwyn Jones to say he was “appalled” the unitary council was not consulted and raised fears for the impact it could have on the county.

Councillor Barrow is demanding more consultation be carried out on the document and also wants to meet the minister .

National Grid has carried out the first stage of a public consultation about how to connect planned and newly-built windfarms in Mid Wales to the existing national electricity transmission network.

The move could see massive pylons built in the countryside in Mid Wales and Shropshire, but National Grid has stressed no decision has yet been made about whether the power cables will go above or under ground.

In its response to the National Grid consultation, Shropshire Council said cables should not pass through the county but if they did, it believed they should be carried underground.

Councillor Barrow said: “In particular, I want to express my anger that Shropshire’s councils were not consulted on TAN 8 or its implications.

“When we discussed our response to the consultation at cabinet the integrity and validity of TAN 8 promoting windfarm development was criticised by a number of speakers.

“There was particular concern about the fact that Shropshire was not consulted on this document and nor were the strategic infrastructure implications considered when TAN 8 was published.

“Shropshire is experiencing the impact now of planned windfarm developments in Wales. ”

By John Kirk