September 5, 2018 4.33 pm This story is over 66 months old

Inquiry into council’s Viking Link refusal

Inquiry into the initial refusal
The proposed underground cabling route for the Viking Link project

A public inquiry will be held after a district council refused to support plans for an electricity network between Denmark and Lincolnshire.

Councillors at East Lindsey District Council voted against the Viking Link scheme back in May due to potential damage to the Lincolnshire Wolds and impact on local businesses.

Now, the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning appeals, will hold a public inquiry in Louth.

The inquiry will sit for four days from November 6 after Viking Link appealed the council’s decision.

East Lindsey District Council

The Viking Link is a proposed 473-mile long electricity interconnector between Bicker Fen near Boston and the substation Revsing in southern Jutland, Denmark.

Electricity would pass through cables under the North Sea, arriving on the Lincolnshire coast next to Sandilands Golf Club south of Sutton on Sea in East Lindsey.

Underground cables passing through the districts of East Lindsey, Boston, North Kesteven and South Holland would carry the electricity around 41 miles to a new converter station before it is connected to the existing National Grid substation.

All but one of the four authorities supported the proposed development.

A number of public speakers at the East Lindsey meeting raised concerns about the impact on farms where the cabling would pass through, and the potential to damage the Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Councillor Will Grover said: “I strongly believe that the routing needs to be reconsidered and redirected.

“Let me make this very clear. Viking Link is not a nationally significant infrastructure project. It is not needed, it is not essential and it is not economically feasible.

“I feel the current route has been chosen as the simplest option. This option if approved will quite simply have a negative impact on the Wolds and the residents who live and work there.”

Councils were instructed by the government not to grant planning permission without specific authorisation. This allows the application to be referred to the Secretary of State James Brokenshire for a final decision.

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