Power lines to be removed from edge of Friston Forest
Dec 03, 2009
Contact Name: Sarah Butler
Contact email: sbutler@southdowns-aonb.gov.uk
Work has started on a £264,000 project that will see the removal of more than three quarters of a mile of power lines from the landscape on the edge of Friston Forest.
EDF Energy Networks is working closely with the South Downs Joint Committee to ‘underground’ the electricity cables in this area of the Downs popular with horse riders, mountain bikers, dog walkers and ramblers.
Engineers are installing replacement underground cables which will enable them to switch off and remove the power lines, and 26 wooden support poles, parallel to the road between Jevington and Friston.
The lines cross fields at Oxendean Farm on the outskirts of Jevington and their openness accentuates the impact of the power lines which are visible from the road. Further to the south, the lines hug the edge of Friston Forest and can be clearly seen from the entrance to Butchershole car park, a popular access point at the eastern edge of the forest, which is very popular with walkers and cyclists.
The move has been made possible thanks to a special allowance granted by electricity industry regulator Ofgem, and follows a similar project to remove approximately two miles of overhead power lines from the landscape a few miles away at Birling Gap earlier this year.
Nigel Collier, EDF Energy Networks’ protected areas project officer, said: “We are delighted to be providing the technical expertise behind this project. Removing the power lines will improve the views from the main Jevington to Friston road and from the various footpaths that criss-cross the area, between Jevington and Friston Hill.”
Nat Belderson, Planning Officer for the South Downs Joint Committee, said: “Local people will immediately notice the reduced clutter in the landscape as this is such a popular location. Few projects make such an immediate and permanent improvement to our nationally important protected landscapes as the removal of power lines.”
