Campaigner slams £250 bill compensation proposal for houses near controversial Derbyshire pylon scheme
Derbyshire houses affected by the controversial Chesterfield-to-Willington giant pylon scheme are set to receive £250 annual discount on their bills.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has revealed the first locations eligible for the government’s energy bill discount for households affected by 43 transmission projects across Britain – and National Grid’s Chesterfield-to-Willington electricity transmission project is on the list.
Under the scheme, any property located within 1,600 feet (500m) from new pylons and substations will be able to receive a £250 annual discount on bills for up to 10 years.
But Kath Hardman, chair of Stop The Pylons Derbyshire campaign, has slammed the plans – saying the payment is not enough to compensate for negative impacts on mental health, business and property prices.
She said: “It's an absolute insult and pittance.”
"The bills went up more than £250 over the last year and it is no compensation for how much value people would be losing off their houses.
"Not to mention the mental health and impact on farms and businesses, which will be closing because they won't be able to cope with two years of construction work.”
Kath has later highlighted that the current proposal only offers up to 10 years of payments – while the impact of pylons on the property prices, natural habitats and residents’ mental health would continue for decades to come."
The Derbyshire electricity transmission project was first announced in 2024 and proposed to build a number of 50-metre-tall pylons across Derbyshire countryside – with the power line proposed to run through Amber Valley, Clay Cross, Alfreton, Ripley, Denby and Smalley.
In the latest update, National Grid has confirmed the pylon height range will be 44 to 66 metres.
Kath added: "The Angel of the North is 20 metres tall – it’s three Angels of the North on top of each other.
"And it's not just the pylons but also heavy duty cables need for carrying high voltage, which will be an eyesore right across Derbyshire.”
National Grid said that ‘local feedback’ and ‘further technical and environmental assessment’ were taken into consideration before the launch of the second stage of the consultation in March, which saw a new route for the high voltage power line proposed.
The new route, located to the east of the previously proposed energy line, avoids locations such as the River Amber Valley, Ogston Reservoir and nearby listed buildings including Ogston Hall.
The interactive map shared by National Grid divides the route into six sections including Chesterfield to Tibshelf, Tibshelf to Ripley, Ripley to Morley, Morley to Ockbrook, Ockbrook to Aston-on-Trent and Aston-on-Trent to Willington.
Stop The Pylons Derbyshire, an organisation launched in response to the National Grid’s project, did not welcome the proposed changes and has continued to campaign for the project to be rerouted further from homes and farms or be cancelled.
National Grid said the Chesterfield to Willington electricity transmission project was necessary to update the existing network in the region, which was largely built in the1960s to connect coal and nuclear power stations and was not designed for today’s power sources or future demand.