Village still the ideal location for substation, say developers (From Warrington Guardian)

Village still the ideal location for substation, say developers

DEVELOPERS have reduced the size of the proposed substation in Acton Bridge by 30 per cent after encountering fierce opposition from residents.

But they still feel Station Road is the best site for the development.

Network Rail and National Grid submitted the original planning applications for a substation and trackside feeder station in December last year.

But they went back to the drawing board when residents in Acton Bridge and Weaverham protested about the plans.

The developers have now revealed their new proposals. Changes include: A 30 per cent reduction in the overall size of the proposed substation; Increased set back from Station Road, increasing the distance from the highway to the substation fence from 33 metres to 55 metres; Making the pylon one metre shorter.

Steve Knight-Gregson, consents manager for National Grid, said they had listened very carefully to what people had to say about their proposals. He said: "Network Rail and National Grid have since spent several months looking again at the alternative sites and connection options but, in our view, Station Road still remains the preferred location for the substation."

The developers have rejected the idea of building the substation in Crewe, where the supply will be needed, because a large new stretch of transmission line would have to be built.

They have also turned down the suggestion that a connection could be made at the existing substation at Frodsham because the facility would have to be extended by 0.5 hectares.

Steve Pardoe, of the Substation Action Group, admitted the new submission went into more detail about the possibility of a connection from the Frodsham substation but said much of the argument relied on a strict interpretation of local planning guidelines.

He said: "This misses the key point that the visual impact of a slight increase in the area of the existing Frodsham substation would be negligible compared with the intrusive and insensitive location which the developers have chosen on the entirely rural Acton Bridge/Weaverham boundary."