No issue in modern times has stirred the people of Mid Wales and rural Shropshire as much as the plan to build power lines across a great swathe of the countryside.

There was a deputation to the Welsh Assembly, huge meetings in Welshpool, and other meetings in villages across the landscape likely to be affected.

For months the campaigners have waited to hear who is going to take the direct hit. Today we know, with the publication of the route chosen, out of the 10 which were being looked at.

• Power line’s route picked across Shropshire

It is on the doorstep of a number of small communities – primarily Cefn Coch, Llansantffraid, Four Crosses, Knockin, West Felton, and Lower Frankton.

The exact form of the power lines is still not clear, but with pylons being relatively cheap, accessible, and easy to maintain in comparison to underground cables, protesters have already drawn their own conclusions.

Of all the routes, there were none that would not blight beautiful countryside. For Shropshire and Mid Wales, choosing between them was like being asked where to have a scar on your face.

There will undoubtedly be relief today among communities who have escaped the worst, while the protests in places like Four Crosses will be reinvigorated.

This infrastructure is being built to serve wind farms in Mid Wales. How ironic that a form of energy which is claimed to be environmentally friendly is proving to have a far-reaching and long-lasting environmental cost. All this to support, in the general scheme of things, a small amount of extra energy, erratically delivered.

There is now another consultation period. The publication of the route will concentrate minds and focus the fight. For campaigners, solidarity is the key. It is not just an issue for those within or near the route corridor, but for everybody who loves the landscape.

The battle is not over. It has merely entered the next phase.