Pylons

There are various articles and letters in the press at the moment about the desirability and expense of undergrounding national grid power lines, the 440KV cables carried by pylons which we usually say stride across the countryside (or perhaps “march” when we are particularly upset by them).  We have grown used to the existing lines, but new proposals are far from popular.  A number are the subject of applications to the Infrastructure Planning Commission and will be considered under the new, fast track, written representations system brought in by the Planning Act 2008.

The National Grid and Royal Institute of British Architects have organised a competition to design new pylons, and you can see the shortlisted entries at this website  . You have until 5th October to vote.  Here’s the one that gets my vote, designed by AL_A and ARUP – the image is copyright the RIBA.