To prevent potential pylon backlash, the UK government has said that those living near new pylons could receive £250 a year off their energy bills.
Households within half a kilometre of new or upgraded power infrastructure, including pylons and substations, could receive up to £2,500 over 10 years, The Guardian has reported.
In September 2024, Labour set out its ambitious planning reforms, including the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is due to be introduced this week.
The bill aims to support the government’s commitment to building 1.5 million homes. It will help streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure and overhaul rules on the compulsory purchase of land.
This critical infrastructure includes power infrastructure. The UK currently faces an urgent need to revamp the electricity grid and accelerate new infrastructure to support the increase in renewable energy projects.
In 2024, the National Grid’s Electricity System Operator said that the UK’s energy grid urgently needed a £58bn revamp to connect new renewable energy sources.
To meet anticipated demand, National Grid has already outlined 17 hefty new projects, which targets a mix of subsea, overhead and underground cables.
However, building this infrastructure will not be welcomed favourably by everyone, particularly those living in areas where it is to be installed.
Last year, a number of local councils voiced their concerns that the building of this infrastructure, including the installation of pylons, would “scare off tourists” and “ruin our countryside”.
Braced for further backlash, the government has said it would create community funds to build facilities such as sports pitches and youth centres, under plans first reported by The Times.
Alex Norris, a housing and communities minister, told Sky News earlier today: “If you are making that sacrifice of having some of the infrastructure in your community, you should get some of the money back.
“So we’re making that commitment of £250 a year if you are near those pylons. We think that’s a fair balance between people who are making that commitment to the country themselves, and how they should be rewarded.”
The money, received through discounts on energy bills, is expected to be in place from 2026.
To speed up building, the government has also announced today, ahead of the introduction of the bill later this week, that it is putting in place further reforms to overhaul the planning system.
This includes lifting the “bureaucratic burden” of the number of statutory consultees – official stakeholders legally required to provide advice on planning decisions – during planning consultations.
Under these new plans, statutory consultees such as Sport England, the Theatres Trust and the Gardens Trust will no longer be required to input on planning decisions.
The scope of other statutory consultees will also be narrowed to focus on heritage, safety and environmental protection.
This, the government says, will speed up the building process and prevent delays to homes being built.
Angela Rayner, the housing minister and deputy prime minister, said: “We need to reform the system to ensure it is sensible and balanced, and does not create unintended delays – putting a hold on people’s lives and harming our efforts to build the homes people desperately need.
“New developments must still meet our high expectations to create the homes, facilities and infrastructure that communities need.”
The reason for this move is that the government said that statutory bodies, of which there are 25, were taking too long to issue advice, and often had unreasonable, “gold-plated” demands.
In the past three years, more than 300 applications had to be decided by the secretary of state directly because of disagreements from consultees.