VIP North Wessex Downs
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North Wessex Downs VIP

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The North Wessex Downs National Landscape was designated in 1972. The National Landscape straddles the counties of West Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.  It is a predominantly chalkland landscape with dramatic scarp slopes and moulded dip slopes that reflect the area’s underlying chalk geology.

The North Wessex Downs VIP project will replace around 4.6km of overhead transmission lines and 13 pylons, close to the Millennium White Horse and the site of the Civil War battle of Roundway Down, north of Devizes.

To find out more about the project as construction work gets underway, please come along to one of public drop-in events in March or sign up to our online webinar on Tuesday 19 March at 6.00pm here.

Project update

Residents of Bishops Cannings, Devizes, Roundway and Rowde are being invited to meet members of the National Grid and Balfour Beatty team who will be delivering a project which is set to transform the natural beauty of the North Wessex Downs landscape near the Millennium White Horse in Devizes.

Preliminary work on the project started in January, which will permanently remove 13 pylons and 4.6km of existing overhead electricity line and replace them with cables buried underground.

Work to date has focused on archaeological surveys, vegetation clearance ahead of the bird nesting season and early site preparation, but the project will become much more visible in the community over the coming months.

A series of public information drop-in events will be taking place in March, where local people and businesses can meet the National Grid team and representatives from its main contractor, Balfour Beatty, who will be working on the project over the next two years. The events are scheduled to take place on:

  • Wednesday 13 March, 3.00pm – 7.30pm, Bishops Cannings Village Hall, SN10 2LA
  • Thursday 14 March, 9.00am – 1.00pm, Devizes Market, the Shambles indoor market, SN10 1JG
  • Saturday 16 March, 10.00am – 2.00pm, Rowde Village Hall, SN10 2PS

At the events the team will be available to speak about the plans and answer any questions about the construction process and timescales, as well as how construction and site traffic will be managed during the preliminary phase of activity while the main site is being set up.

We will also be holding an online webinar at 6.00pm on Tuesday 19 March where anyone unable to attend the drop-in sessions can hear about these important updates and ask any questions.  If you would like to attend this webinar, please sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/going-underground-in-the-north-wessex-downs-gearing-up-for-pylon-removal-tickets-853531434497 

Amardeep Malhi, lead project manager at National Grid, said: “We’ve been working closely with the community and stakeholders including the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, Wiltshire Council and local parish councils as we’ve refined our plans for this project which will benefit local community and the area’s many visitors.

“It’s really exciting to be finally getting started on the main construction and we now want to invite local people to meet the team and find out what to expect.  We’ll also have information on our Community Grant Programme which will be running throughout construction and offers small grants of up to £20,000 to community groups and charities in the area near our work.

“We’d encourage everyone to come along to these events where my colleagues and I will be on hand to talk through the detail of the plans and answer any questions you may have.”

The pylons near Devizes will be replaced with cables buried underground as part of National Grid’s Visual Impact Provision (VIP) project, which is a national programme to reduce the visual impact of existing high voltage power lines in protected areas across England and Wales.

The scheme will also involve the construction of two new sealing end compounds at either end of the line being removed, where the new underground cables come back up to join and connect with the overhead line. The removal of all 13 pylons is due to be completed by the end of 2026.

To find out more about the North Wessex Downs VIP project, get in touch via: