Little Horsted

Project description

At National Grid we are at the heart of Britain’s energy system, connecting people to the energy they use, safely and reliably. We keep the lights on so people can go about their daily lives. And we’re working to build a cleaner, fairer and more affordable energy system that serves everyone.

Electricity is carried from power stations, wind farms and other sources through a network of high-voltage electricity lines, owned and operated by National Grid. These electricity lines connect to hundreds of substations around the country, which then transfer electricity to local distributors, who in turn supply it at a lower voltage to local homes, schools and businesses.

This project involves the development of a new electricity supply point near Little Horsted, at the junction of Eastbourne Road with the A22. This is essential to allow UK Power Networks to connect to our network, enabling them to improve the electricity supply to the surrounding area and meet increased demand.

The new connection will involve building two new electricity substations (one for National Grid and one for UK Power Networks, which they will deliver) and two new pylons, along with the dismantling of one existing pylon.
 

Project update: Late Summer 2025

We’re now connecting the overhead line into the electricity network.  Within the substation we’ll dismantle one pylon and erect two new ones. This requires restringing and reconductoring work to neighbouring pylons and overhead wires from Sand Hill Lane, Harveys Lane and Palehouse Common (to the east) and East Sussex National Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa (to the west).

First you may see our contractors carry out temporary works. This includes setting up satellite compound areas where we will use equipment to ‘pull’ the wire from pylon to pylon, laying temporary trackway for access to these locations, vegetation strimming and installing traffic management signage. We’ll also erect scaffolding either side of the A22, Eastbourne Road near Harveys Lane and Sand Hill Lane and scaffolding netting across the road, to prepare for this work. Security cameras will be in place in compound areas to protect equipment.

There are some night-time works on the A22 for the scaffolding netting to be erected/removed. The planned dates for this work (which is subject to local authority change) are Wednesday 27 to Friday 29 August, Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 October, Thursday 30 October to Saturday 1 November and Monday 17 to Wednesday 19 November. The work will take place between 10pm and 4am.

Eastbourne Road and Sand Hill Lane will also be subject to night-time closures on the above dates and times. We have permission from East Sussex County Council for the closures.

Sand Hill Lane may also need to be closed for around three days. The closure will be during the day and reopened each night.  Dates are still to be agreed with the Council, so we’ll update this webpage once they’re confirmed.

Some footpaths are also impacted between August and November. We’ve put notices up either end of the following footpaths: Bridleway Little Horsted 10b, Footpaths Framfield 11, 6 and 7, Footpath East Hoathly with Halland 30. Framfield 9, 12, 10, 8a and 8b will remain open. We’ll introduce short term path closures on Framfield 8a and 8b while we erect scaffolding and netting over the paths.

See maps for more information

It’s important we install scaffolding and netting to protect the public, roads, buildings, railways and distribution power lines. They also create safe working areas and access for our vehicles, staff, plant and equipment.   
 

Works from end August to November

You’ll see increased activity when tractors, winches, cranes and materials are delivered to the satellite compound areas and set up at the pulling positions. These machines will remove the old wire and feed in the new one and you may notice engineers working at height on the pylons and wires. At the start of the works, operatives in overhead spacer chairs will remove the spacers that hold the conductors in bundles. They’ll replace the spacers at the end of the wiring works.

A pylon usually carries two circuits, one on each side, and at the pylon peak is an earthwire. We'll turn the power supply off on these pylons to allow the work to take place, one circuit at a time, under an outage. 

Our daytime working hours for the overhead line works will be between 7.30am and 6pm, with time allowed during this period for logistics and pylon climbing, which isn’t considered construction work.

None of our work will disrupt electricity supplies.  Once complete, we’ll power the wires back up and reinstate any temporary accesses.

If you have any queries or concerns about this work, please contact our community relations team. You can call for free on 0800 073 1047 or email [email protected]. An answering service in place outside normal working hours.  

You can also visit Temporary closures | East Sussex County Council for details.

Community Grant Programme

Due to the very nature of what we do – connecting people to the energy we all use – we’re at the heart of communities and each year we make a significant charitable investment in the UK. Our Community Grant Programme is aimed at community organisations and charities in areas where our work is impacting local people through our operations and construction activities.

Communities impacted by the maintenance of existing infrastructure (e.g. refurbishment of overhead lines or substations resulting in road closures and other impacts) can apply for grants of up to £10,000.

Communities impacted by construction work for new infrastructure projects (e.g. the building of new underground tunnels or a new substation resulting in a significant increase in heavy goods traffic, noise and other impacts) can apply for grants of up to £20,000.
 

Find out how to apply