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nopylon.co.uk Proposed Substation for Network Rail "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". - Edmund Burke Banner Event, Saturday 9. October 2004 The website is under constant development, so please call back (and don't forget to click "refresh/reload" on your browser!).

Green Belt concerns transcend party politics : Mike Hall MP and Cllr Nora Dolphin join 80+ local residents at SAG's Banner Event to show their cross-party support for the campaign!

Brian Wilson, the farmer on whose land the substation would be built, joins SAG Chairman Glen Gidley, Cheshire County Councillor Nora Dolphin, and Weaver Vale MP Mike Hall at the event on Saturday

National and local politicians from across the party spectrum turned out on Saturday morning to show their support for the Substation Action Group's campaign against the development of a huge installation in Acton Bridge. Weaver Vale MP Mike Hall, Cheshire County Councillor Nora Dolphin, and Vale Royal Borough Councillor Richard Gorrill lined up for a photo-call in front of the banners, which members of the Substation Action Group have erected to draw attention to the location and scale of the proposed National Grid Transco (NGT) substation site.

You can see local press coverage of the event here.

At least 80 local residents were also there to hear Glen Gidley, Chairman of SAG, introduce Mike Hall and Nora Dolphin. Several of those attending, including Mike Hall, added their signatures to the petition, which Nora Dolphin had inaugurated. Both spoke of the need to preserve the Green Belt, and Mike Hall pointed out that alternative sites were available and should be used in preference to that proposed in Acton Bridge. He went on to say that the first NGT presentation had not made clear the scale and extent of the proposed development, which would be the size of three rugby pitches. It goes directly against the provisions of the Green Belt and Vale Royal's Local Plan, it will be a blot on the landscape, and there will be serious loss of visual amenity. Although the enhanced electrical supply has to go somewhere, Mr Hall did not see the need to breach Green Belt policy. He didn't accept the "convenience" argument, and doesn't accept that somewhere else can't be found. Mr Hall concluded by saying that this was not yet a protest, but it was the expression of clear arguments to persuade Vale Royal Borough Council to turn the planning applications down.

Weaver Vale MP Mike Hall (pictured with Glen Gidley, SAG Chairman and supporters) signs the Petition at the event on Saturday

Cllr Dolphin emphasised the evident and very significant cross-party objection to the proposed scheme, which would confer absolutely no local benefit, since train services in the area were being cut back. The development, she said, would be taking away an important part of the precious Green Belt.

Speaking to SAG members afterwards, Mr Hall praised their campaign and expressed concern that the forecasts of rail traffic growth, which the Strategic Rail Authority had put forward as justification for much of the power increase, were now in doubt. SAG provided him with some newly-released statistics, which he will follow up.

If the combined efforts of the two villages, with evident cross-party political support, succeed in defeating the NGT and Network Rail applications, it may deter other developers from opportunist and inappropriate attacks on the Green Belt, and help to safeguard the future of a sensitive and irreplaceable part of rural Cheshire.

Just a few of the supporters assembling to hear Mike Hall MP and Nora Dolphin express their combined opposition to the substation scheme

Go back to main nopylon.co.uk page, or follow these links to read more about the campaign, press coverage and the Substation Action Group.

The three banners are ranged along the left-hand side of the road, with the furthest one (just!) visible at the top of the hill, where the new road junction would be. If you'd like to know what you can do to help, please use the e-mail link at the bottom of this page. And do please bookmark this website and call back, as it's being updated frequently.

National Grid
Network Rail
Strategic Rail Authority
The Environment Partnership
Another TEP electrical project, installation for the North Sea Interconnector
National Radiological Protection Board case studies of the effects of electric and magnetic fields on health (for example, childhood leukaemia)
CPRE Campaign to Protect Rural England

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