It is said to be the most expensive of five other similar projects across England and Wales, costing £1 billion in total.
File image of pylons in the UK countryside (Image: Getty)
Customers are to pay for a £288 million bill to remove 10 controversial pylons from a UK beauty spot, according to reports. National Grid is planning to take down the infrastructure, widely regarded as an eyesore, across the Dwyryd Estuary in the Snowdonia National Park.
It comes as campaigners in areas such as East Anglia and Lincolnshire have been battling to stop the introduction of hundreds of new pylons in rural areas, expressing concerns that it will ruin landscapes. The pylons set to be removed from the Snowdonia National Park were built in the 1960s and transport electricity to North Wales. They will be replaced by underground cables — a method preferred by many anti-pylon campaigners as they are seen as less intrusive to the surrounding area.
Campaigners have argued that the move is evidence that pylons spoil landscapes (Image: Getty)
A National Grid spokesperson said: “These networks were developed in the 1950s and 1960s when planning policy was very different and landscapes had less protection.
“The national policy now is that in protected landscapes this kind of infrastructure should be put underground.”
National Grid has typically insisted pylons are the cheapest and most viable option.
The £288 million being spent on the project to remove the pylons is more than twice the combined budget of the UK’s national park authorities, according to The Telegraph, which broke the story.
The work will be funded from customer bills, the newspaper reported.
It is said to be the most expensive of five other similar projects across England and Wales, costing £1 billion in total.
The pylons in Snowdonia could be removed after the underground cabling is completed this year.
Campaigners have argued that the move is evidence that pylons spoil landscapes.
Rosie Pearson, founder of the Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylons action group, told The Telegraph: “It’s ridiculous and infuriating that there’s a £1 billion pot of money to remove pylons because they are ugly and intrusive, while simultaneously the Government favours more overhead lines in policy to upgrade the grid.
“However, it does prove that pylon lines are ugly and intrusive.”
