Dear National Grid,

I find your so called consultation a sham because it simply has not provided enough information on other options than Mega Pylons sited on a number of routes for the transmission of electricity from the proposed new Nuclear Power station Hinkley Point C. It has been a request for residents to chose between two least favoured options, as one person at one of the many public protest meetings described it as "a choice put to a vegitarian over whether to have chicken or beef".

Quite simply this is not a consultation but a sham and the process should be started again with all options including under ground or undersea, with or without use of super conducting cables fully costed and presented. The long term amenity costs to the general public living in the area should also be included, including the loss of value to house prices, the estimated losses to income generation from tourism in the area, the cost in terms of human health and reduced life expectancy, and the cost of having to look at theses unsightly pylons for the next 80 years.

Another issue that has not been taken into account by your consultation is the likely need for further additions to the grid in future years when a probable tidal barrage system is built. I believe that a buried super conducting powergrid cable would have the capacity to carry continual increases in current without the need for further lines to be buried. There would thus seem to be the need for a fully thought out strategic review of the UK national grid for the 21stC and beyond, I venture to suggest that if super conducting cables are to be a part of this, then the time to start this switchover is fast approaching, and where better to start than on the Hinkley Point C project?

Regards
Dr. Brian Mathew
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for North Somerset

With Yatton Against Pylons

With Save Our Valley in Nailsea