BEN LAKE MP has urged the UK Government to make underground cabling the default method for installing new electricity grid infrastructure.

There are 4,500 miles of overhead electricity transmission lines in England and Wales. This contrasts with just over 900 miles of underground cables. ‘Undergrounding’, the replacement of overhead cables with underground cables, is used in limited circumstances, such as in nationally designated landscapes.

There have been calls for an increase in undergrounding. However, the government has pointed to several issues, including the higher cost of placing cables underground when using traditional open trenching methods. However, recent advancements in cable ploughing techniques have significantly reduced the cost of placing such cables underground, such that MPs are calling on the UK Government to adopt the method as their preferred approach to new grid infrastructure.

Green GEN Cymru is proposing a new 132kV overhead line to connect Lan Fawr Energy Park in West Wales to a new National Grid substation in Carmarthen. As part of the initial consultation process, significant concerns were raised by residents and businesses about the visual, environmental, and economic impact of the proposed overhead line – with several public meetings and campaign groups forming over recent MONTHS to oppose the proposals.

Concerns over the proposed Tywi Teifi network have previously been raised in the Senedd and last week Ben Lake MP reiterated calls for the undergrounding of transmission cables during a debate in Westminster Hall on Pylons and upgrading the National Grid.

During his speech Mr Lake stated: “What’s at heart here is this idea of just transition – of balancing the concerns of communities with the need for new infrastructure. Although definitions of just transition differ, my understanding of the concept is that it should see to bring about fairer outcomes from the transition to net zero by maximising the benefits of climate action and minimising the negative impact for communities.

“We all agree that the National Grid needs upgrading. It needs strengthening, but it is disappointing that the Government has, thus far, failed to truly consider the benefits and advantages of cable ploughing techniques.”

Mr Lake argued that installing transmission cables by using cable ploughing techniques, such as is used by a local company based in Pencader (ATP), could drastically reduce the cost and time taken to complete infrastructure upgrades.

Mr Lake added: “Cable ploughing could be a means of balancing the need for any new electricity infrastructure with the importance of minimising not only financial costs, but also unnecessary environmental impact and community opposition.”

A £1M scheme for a ’20-storey-high’ wind turbine at a Pembrokeshire mansion is recommended to be turned down later this week despite being twice backed by the council’s planning committee.

Mr and Mrs Glen Peters of Western Solar Ltd are seeking permission for a single turbine on land near the Grade II-listed Rhosygilwen Mansion, which includes an arts and functions building known as Neuaddydderwen.

Planners have repeatedly been recommended to refuse the scheme by officers, but backed it at both their March and April committee meetings.

The March backing meant the application returned to the April meeting for ratification after a ‘cooling off’ period; the application having been deferred at the January meeting pending a site visit.

It was initially recommended for refusal in January for several reasons, including potential harm to the setting of the Grade-II-listed house and grounds, and fears of threats to the safe operation of West Wales Airport at Aberporth in neighbouring Ceredigion, some 9.5 kilometres away.

The last concern was later withdrawn.

Officers have said the scheme “would not protect or enhance the setting [of Rhosygilwen] but rather would result in significant harm to this interest of acknowledged importance”.

They have also warned any backing of the scheme against policy recommendations could set a precedent for similar developments.

Applicant Glen Peters has previously said the application for a turbine would ensure the long-term viability of Rhosygilwen, acquired some 30 years previously as a fire-damaged house that was about to be pulled down.

He has said that, despite 200-year-old Rhosygilwen using power from its solar farm, the first of its kind in Wales, it has been hit with “huge increases in importing energy from the grid” during the winter months.

Speaking at the April planning meeting, Mr Peters said the scheme as a whole was expected to cost “the best part of £1m”.

Objector Paul Robertson-Marriott has said the “20-storey” turbine would have “a detrimental impact” on surrounding properties.

He said the majority of the power from the existing solar farm was fed into the grid rather than powering the house, believing the turbine proposal would “ride roughshod over the status of the listed building for economic benefit”.

He asked members: “Why should the local community and environment be subject to an additional economic generator that causes environmental depredation?”

As the scheme would be a departure from the development plan it means it will have to be decided by full council, meeting on May 9, where it is recommended that council does not endorse the resolution of the planning committee, and refuses the application based on “significant harm” to the setting of Rhosygilwen.

IN the Senedd on Tuesday (May 7), the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh Government to protect children seeking asylum in Wales.

According to the Refugee Council, lone child asylum seekers are often at a greater risk of being wrongly classified as adults by the Home Office and then sent to Rwanda under the UK government’s controversial policy.

In 2022, two-thirds of children deemed adults by the Home Office were later confirmed as children by local authorities.

The Welsh Lib Dems have urged the Welsh Government to ensure that children seeking asylum in Wales, especially those on their own, are granted protection as part of Wales’ role as a nation of sanctuary.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “Our nation’s reputation as a haven for those fleeing hardships is under threat from the UK Government’s cold-hearted Rwanda policy.

This immoral approach towards what is essentially a human-rights crisis represents a serious threat to our most vulnerable residents, those being unaccompanied children.

According to the Refugee Council, lone child asylum seekers are more likely to be wrongly classified as adults which places them at a greater risk of being forced onto flights and expelled.

We here in Wales, both as a Nation of Sanctuary and under the Social Services and Well-being Act 2014, have a moral and legal duty to protect lone-child asylum seekers.

We cannot allow the Conservatives to trample our values, nor the universal rights owed to children fleeing trauma.”