Farming Talk: Representation for landowners over grid route

National Grid has finally announced its preferred location for a brand new substation connecting the proposed Mid Wales windfarms to the national electricity network in England.

A site at Cefn Coch has been chosen along with a route corridor for the new power line through the Vyrnwy valley to Lower Frankton at the east of Oswestry.

Following previous public consultation the proposed route corridor has been widened to allow for further route options in order to minimise impact on the Powys uplands and a variation in route has been proposed in the Vyrnwy valley near Meifod.

National Grid has not settled upon how the 400kV connection will be constructed, nor the exact location of the line within the corridor.

A mixture of both overhead and underground cable is likely to be implemented.

Further stages of consultation by National Grid will follow and it is anticipated an application to the Planning Inspectorate and Powys County Council for consent will be submitted in 2013.

If consent is granted then construction could commence as early as 2015.

National Grid will now be contacting land owners within the revised corridor to discuss their proposals. They will need to take access to land prior to the line being constructed in order to carry out ecological surveys and assessments for engineering purposes.

Having the best professional advice to deal with access and compensation issues will be invaluable. Operations such as this can have a significant impact on land and property and owners need to be properly represented.

Jack Tavernor is based at the Shrewsbury office of national property experts Strutt and Parker