Residents of an Essex village have expressed concern over plans for new power pylons that would cut through the community.
The National Grid's East Anglia GREEN project would upgrade power lines as well as connect new offshore wind farms off Essex to the electricity transmission network.
However, residents of Ardleigh, near Colchester, which would have more than 27 pylons, have been voicing their concerns over the project, and the consultation process, which ends on June 16.
Nicky and Lee Anderson, who live in the village, said the plans were "horrific."
Nicky, 54, said: "It is such a shock. We have lived here for 16 years and it is just so rural and lovely. There is so much wildlife.
“I am worried about our horses if it goes through their field. We are not going to be able to ride our horses around the little lanes and the area at all, which was literally the main reason why we bought the property.”
Lee, 51, added: “This was our dream house. We used to live on the Lawford Dale estate and Nicky has always loved horses.
“Six months ago, we received the notification that they wanted consent to come into our land for a windfarm.
"So, we already have the windfarm hanging over us and now the pylons, and they want to build a substation 500 metres from the back of our house. This is terrible.”
Peter Batchelor, from the Ardleigh Matters action group, said: “Ardleigh is a small rural community and these pylons would create one of the most highly concentrated areas of high voltage power lines within the UK.
"The National Grid is also proposing a substation the size of 30 football pitches, along with subsequent 45-metre-wide access roads cutting through miles of hedgerow, woodland and farmland."
Sarah Kaboli's family farm land off Wick Lane, Ardleigh. She added: “The swathe of pylons is coming down the side and the back of my house. I am hoping they are not going to cut down the trees at the end of the field.
“My family has had the farm on Wick Lane for generations and generations and I know my brother is really worried because these are our best fields.
"It will come down through three or four arable fields and we have got onions, barley and wheat growing on those. We have been told the country needs grain, so why would they want to take the land away from producing to put these pylons on?”
A National Grid spokesperson said: “The government has set an ambition to connect up to 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030 – enough green energy to power every home in the country.
"It is National Grid’s responsibility to connect new generation into the national transmission system and get it to where it is needed, safely and securely.
"We are governed by a number of licences and regulatory obligations and we’ve been carrying out assessments and studies to find the most appropriate way to achieve this in East Anglia, and in other parts of the country.
"We feel these proposals best meet our obligations.
“We are at an early stage and we want to work closely with local communities as we develop the project further. We’re holding this consultation so people can tell us about the impacts they believe this project will have on them, and where they live.
"This is really important to us and we encourage people to talk to us and take part in the consultation.
“We will carefully consider feedback from local communities, along with information from assessments and surveys to help us develop our proposals in more detail.”
More information about East Anglia GREEN can be found here.
A link to the consultation feedback form can be found here.
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