South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge has called for the region to be "treated more fairly" in his formal response to National Grid's Norwich to Tilbury consultation.

National Grid are currently consulting on their proposals for an onshore 400kV cable route, running for 180km, around 111 miles, from Norwich to Tilbury. 

The cables would be carried on 50 metre pylons across part of South Suffolk, with a section of it being placed underground through the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

In his formal response to National Grid's statutory consultation, which is running until midnight on Friday, July 26, South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge has pushed for East Anglia to be "treated more fairly". 

He said: "My main priority has always been to achieve a fair deal for my constituents in East Anglia, we are bill payers too and are in part funding the significant infrastructure being pursued in Scotland and the north of England, to the benefit of their residents." 

He continued: "The majority of my affected constituents prefer an offshore or underground alternative to proposed pylons, as is self-evident from their many responses to the consultation.

"Crucially, through the ESO East Anglia Network Study, an underground HVDC alternative was found to be cost comparable to pylons, assuming a 2034 baseline, with the proposal also being ‘technically feasible in the timescales that the capacity is needed’.

"It is now extremely overdue for National Grid to explain to my constituents why they have been treated as second class citizens – not entitled, for some reason, to even have other options considered by National Grid, when the same company is spending billions on such solutions elsewhere in the UK.

"All we want is to be afforded the same protections in East Anglia, and I will continue to fight for my constituents to be treated more fairly." 

The consultation will end at midnight on Friday.