Information for landowners
When developing proposals for network upgrades, we need to understand who has a legal interest in the land in and around the areas being considered as part of the projects.
In the DCO process, anyone with a legal interest in land is known as a Person with an Interest in Land (PIL). If you are identified as a PIL, we will contact you directly.
Whilst much of the information we need to confirm a legal interest on is available on public registers, we have appointed land suppliers Dalcour Maclaren to contact individual landowners to verify the publicly available information and ensure NGET has have made best efforts to identify any potentially impacted landowners.
More information regarding National Grid’s land rights and payment schedules, can be found here.
Dalcour Maclaren will also assist with contacting landowners and occupiers to arrange access for non-intrusive and intrusive surveys which we plan to carry out whilst we develop the proposals and prepare the application for a development consent order.
If you are a landowner and believe your property may be affected by our proposals, and want to talk to our lands team, please email [email protected] or call 0333 034 7961.
Surveys
To understand more about the local environment, and to inform the environmental impact assessment, we need to carry out surveys. These will be on land within the corridor, on some adjoining land, and areas that may be identified through consultation feedback as potentially sensitive.
These surveys are to assess the landscape, ecology and cultural heritage aspects of the area, to inform further detailed environmental assessments. All survey information gathered has been published either as part of our Preliminary environmental information report or will support our application for a development consent order.
Ongoing surveys
Below is a list of our ongoing and upcoming surveys. If for any reason a survey cannot take place on the scheduled date, such as poor weather conditions, we will endeavour to reschedule the survey in a timely manner.
Access to land parcels are agreed before any surveys may take place. If you are a landowner and have questions about the surveys on your land, please email [email protected] or call 0333 034 7961.
Upcoming surveys:
Agriculture Land Classification (ALC) Surveys - Corridor wide
Ecology: Aquatics - Macroinvertebrate - Corridor wide
Ecology: Bat Surveys - Bat Activity (Static Collection) - Corridor wide
Ecology: Breeding Birds - Barn Owls Structures & trees - Corridor wide
Ecology: Breeding Birds - Viewpoint Passage - Corridor wide
Ecology: Breeding Birds - Weather Station - Corridor wide
Ecology: Breeding Birds - Statics - Corridor wide
Ecology: Wintering Birds - Transects - Corridor wide
Ecology: Wintering Birds - Viewpoint Passage - Corridor wide
Ecology: Fish eDNA - Corridor wide
Traffic and Transport: Traffic Monitoring Surveys - Corridor wide
Traffic and Transport: Off Site - Traffic Link Counts - Corridor wide
Historic Environment: Geophysical Survey - Corridor wide
Engineering: Ground Water Monitoring - Substation siting zones
Engineering: Drainage Walkovers - Corridor wide
Intrusive Surveys: Ground Investigation and Archaeological Trial Trenching pre-survey walkovers (prior to intrusive surveys commencing in early 2026) - Corridor and Substations
Frequently asked questions
Get in touch
You can contact our Lands team at Dalcour Maclaren by:
Freephone: 0333 034 7961
Email: [email protected].
Post: The Barn, Bignell Park Barns, Chesterton, Bicester OX26 1TD
If you have a general query about the project, please contact the Grimsby to Walpole community relations team.
We are carrying out several different types of surveys for Grimsby to Walpole. Please see the below for a table of surveys currently planned for the next six months, and the approximate locations where these will be carried out.
| Survey type | Where |
| UK habitat C classification | Corridor wide |
| Water Vole | Corridor wide |
| Otter | Corridor wide |
| Bat static detector survey | Corridor wide |
| Geophysical survey | Substation siting zones |
| Water surveys | Corridor wide |
| Traffic surveys | Corridor wide |
Some ecological and environmental surveys can only be carried out at specific times of the year. For example:
Breeding bird surveys are usually carried out between mid-March to July as they target key species and territories of birds.
Great crested newt surveys must be undertaken between 15 April – 30 June, to align with the breeding period of newts, when they are more likely to inhabit a pond.
UK Habitat Classification surveys can be undertaken all year round, however there are some habitats which have key seasonal constraints. Starting in April allows the surveyors to survey some key habitats e.g. hedgerows.
Ground level tree assessments for bats in April are required to inform the scope of potential further bat surveys over the summer months.
Water vole surveys are usually carried out between mid-April and September as this is when they are most active.
Geophysical surveys are best carried out in late Spring to early Summer as conditions underfoot should not be waterlogged and later in the summer crops have grown to an extent that they are at risk of damage by the survey equipment.
At this early stage, before we have a more detailed proposal, surveys are taking place within the emerging preferred route corridor and potential substation siting zones.
National Grid endeavours to reach voluntary agreement to access the land for surveys whenever possible.
If agreement to access land for surveying cannot be reached voluntarily, Section 172 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 authorises National Grid as an acquiring authority. It allows entry to survey land where there is a proposal to acquire an interest in or right over land.
Allowing National Grid access to land does not stop the landowner making representations about the project at any time and allowing us access for surveys does not affect any rights to comment in any form.
We’ve also notified local authorities where work is taking place. Although we don’t need planning permission for this work, we believe it’s right to notify the local authority.
If you are a landowner or occupier you should direct any further queries in relation to our proposals to Dalcour Maclaren, who are assisting National Grid on this project as our Land Agents, on 0333 034 7961 or by email at [email protected].
If you have received a letter from Dalcour Maclaren, the project’s appointed land agents, please respond directly to this letter. The letter may be requesting initial survey access and initial information regarding the ownership, occupation and use of your land. We also welcome you to provide feedback as part of this consultation – by completing a feedback form (which is available online), or by providing your written feedback.
For further information on National Grid’s approach to engaging with landowners and those with an interest in the land, please see our Landowner FAQs below. For further information about Grimsby to Walpole please visit our FAQs page.
We recognise the potential for land damage and disturbance that may be caused by carrying out surveys and site investigations. Our licence agreements include an advance payment of compensation to landowners or occupiers of land in recognition of damage and disturbance that potentially may be caused by survey and investigation works. Further information is available in our Payments schedule for new electricity transmission assets and the Lands Right Strategy.
As we are in the early stages of developing our proposals, we need to carry out surveys and consultation to gain a full appreciation of how these works may impact affected landowners and their activities. We employ best practice when installing new overhead lines. You can read more about that in our Construction best practice for overhead line installation guidance document.