Lincolnshire County Council’s Reform UK leader calls for focus to move from pylons to oil and gas
The leader of Lincolnshire County Council has said the plans to build pylons across the county are ‘nothing short of criminal’ and should be scrapped.
Coun Sean Matthews (Reform UK) called on National Grid to ditch its proposals and invest in oil and gas production instead - and stood by his scepticism about man's role in causing climate change.
National Grid wants to build 37 miles of pylons between Weston Marsh near Spalding and East Leicestershire. It also plans to build 87 miles of pylons between Grimsby and Walpole in Norfolk. Both routes would pass across large parts of the south and east of the county.
In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coun Matthews said the plans would destroy the landscape — and feels the demand for energy is coming from the south east of the country, not Lincolnshire.
He said: “The reality is that, in Lincolnshire, we produce and have enough electricity for ourselves.
“What National Grid are talking about doing is putting a scar of pylons through our beautiful country to cater for the London Underground, quite frankly, and to cover our county in solar farms and wind turbines, substations and battery storage facilities. That is nothing short of criminal.”
He went on to say that he believes there’s no evidence that human activity, such as burning fossil fuels, has caused climate change.
He added: “The climate has changed ever since the planet started cooling down. I’m not denying that there’s climate change but I’m not convinced that man has much to do with that.”
The vast majority of the scientific studies demonstrate human activity has led to climate change. This is supported by evidence showing increased global temperatures and rising sea levels, which most scientists argue could not happen without human-induced emissions.
Coun Matthews said that green energy projects such as solar farms are very expensive to build and run. He suggested that National Grid should instead invest in gas and oil production.
He said: “Gas and oil. There is plenty of that in the north sea. We should be concentrating on what we’ve got loads of supply of.
“There is a huge gas supply under Lincolnshire that we could explore and start talking about fracking. Why not? These things can be done now.
“What I want to do is improve the environment in maybe 150 years time when we’ve got the technology and the ability to cope with it. At the moment we don’t.”
A National Grid spokesperson said: “This reinforcement between Weston Marsh and East Leicestershire is essential to meet the UK’s forecasted demand for electricity, which is expected to more than double by 2050.
“The existing grid needs to be upgraded to deliver more secure and affordable home-grown energy. This will reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels, helping to make Britain’s energy more secure and resilient, delivering long-term benefits to bill payers.
“We're working with communities to shape our proposals and minimise the impact on the local landscape. Our first stage of consultation is open until August 6, and we look forward to hearing views from members of the public and welcome feedback on our proposals.”
