Under the current EN-5, the policy is that new lines should normally be overhead lines. The government proposed to retain this presumption, but with one notable exception. There is now a presumption for the burying of lines in nationally designated landscapes, including Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks, where damage to the landscape cannot be avoided by rerouting or remedial measures. ‘mitigation.

This proposed policy change could force developers to justify policy exemptions when national landscape designations overlap with sensitive ecological designations, which would tend to favor overhead lines to reduce ecological and geological impacts. This problem is not entirely new. Developers who previously planned to install new power lines had to strike this balance when selecting the design of their system, but this was without national policy statements providing a starting position favoring impact mitigation. on the landscape.

Positioning outside the designated landscapes remains a complex balancing act for developers. In each case, the damage caused by the overhead lines will need to be weighed against the options, including diversion and landfill, taking into account the costs, feasibility and impacts of the alternatives. The focus of the test that the Secretary of State should apply has also changed here, with the draft EN-5 revision suggesting that the Secretary of State should only allow underground sections of line outside nationally designated areas. , preferably to overhead lines when satisfied. that the benefits of landfill outweigh the additional economic, social or environmental impacts; and that technical barriers can be overcome.

Net gain in biodiversity and environmental gain

Developers face new biodiversity demands stemming from the new environmental bill, which is currently progressing in the UK parliament. Under the proposed reforms, developers seeking a building permit will have to demonstrate a net gain in biodiversity of 10% of their plans based on the biodiversity metric that the Ministry of Environment, Food and Business rural (Defra) has developed.

The prospect of legislative reform relating to the net gain in biodiversity is anticipated with a new text proposed for inclusion in EN-5.

The revised draft policy encourages applicants to harness the linear nature of power grid infrastructure to reconnect habitats through green corridors, restoration of hedges and areas of biodiversity progression, and to connect people to the world. environment with footpaths and cycle paths.

This may change the nature of how these corridors are viewed, particularly on agricultural land, and the rights that would be required on the land to affect these corridors.