National Grid has announced three additional public information events, in Nailsea, Portbury and Portishead, after requests from local people for more opportunities to view the route corridors for a new 400,000 volt overhead power line between Bridgwater in Somerset and Seabank in Avonmouth. The line is needed to connect the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point to the electricity transmission system.
The three new events are being added to the 14 already arranged at locations between Bridgwater and Avonmouth, where local people can ask questions and give their opinions about the plans.
The additional events are as follows:
Wednesday 18 November 2009
Portbury Village Hall, 1 High Street, Portbury, BS20 7TW
Thursday 19 November 2009
Trinity Community Hall, Trinity Primary School, Marjoram Way, Portishead, Bristol, BS20 7JF
Thursday 26 November 2009
Sports Hall, Scotch Horn Centre, Brockway, Nailsea, BS48 1BZ
Each of the exhibitions will be open from 2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm, and members of the project team will be on hand to answer questions.
Project manager Peter Bryant said: ‘We have added these extra dates following requests from local residents who wanted more opportunity to discuss the proposals. We are very keen for people to come along to these exhibitions and tell us what they think of our plans.
‘After carrying out extensive studies we have identified two potential route corridors, which are stretches of land in which the overhead line could be sited. We have no preference as to which corridor is chosen so the views of local people will help us make the decision.’
Depending upon the final route, the new line would be approximately 37 miles long. If given the go-ahead, construction would start in 2016 at a cost of around £2 million per mile.
Further information about the project and a full list of public information events can be found on the project website www.nationalgrid.com/hinkleyconnection , or by calling the free telephone helpline on 0800 377 7347.
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For further media information contact Jane Taylor, National Grid Media Relations on 0121 333 2640