Let’s leave aside visual impact, which has been generally well taken care of by energy companies’ planners and wayleave officers, and focus on ecology.
Whether new lines run above or below ground, the consequences for ecology can be significant. For example, installing a new tower in woodland could distress bats or hazel dormice and digging a new trench for subterranean cables could affect great crested newts, reptiles or badgers. Such works may also have an impact on any archaeological features.
Wayleave officers have a critical role because they usually help plan the routes and are responsible for advising on the permissions required (such as from statutory bodies). They also advise on whether an ecological survey is required before engineering works can take place. Although wayleave officers cannot be expected to have a specialised knowledge of ecology (or archaeology), they need sufficient understanding to appreciate when specialists should be brought in.
If specialist surveys are carried out at an early stage, then their findings can be incorporated into the planning of new schemes or refurbishment projects. Generally speaking, electricity companies do consider ecology when planning and installing extra high-voltage lines. That policy is increasingly being applied to lower voltage projects, but needs to be extended to cover all new and refurbishment projects on these latter lines.
Do I think that transmission and distribution infrastructure engineering works are today damaging sensitive ecology? Probably. That’s not to say that electricity firms and their wayleave officers aren’t willing to adopt ecological safeguards – on the contrary, many are. It’s just that some are unsure where to start or could be moving along the journey more quickly.
Last year, some of my colleagues and I visited all the electricity distribution network operators and met with numerous wayleave officers. We found that most were aware that ecology issues were increasingly important but, in some instances, there was a view that restricting surveying to known environmentally sensitive sites such as sites of special scientific interest was sufficient. This is not the case. Protected species can occur anywhere and take no notice of the boundaries of designated sensitive sites.
Checking with the Biological Records Centre helps, but this only identifies sites where protected species have been recorded – a negative result does not mean that protected species do not occur at a particular location. European and nationally protected species need considering wherever they are present, and the only way this can be done is to employ an ecologist to carry out a survey in the first instance.
Some electricity companies are conscientious and carry out ecology surveys as a matter of course. However, others are only just realising that this is the only way of taking a responsible position on protected species. Neglecting this step exposes the company to potentially damaging repercussions in terms of public awareness and it could prove costly in terms of regulatory penalties and project delays.
Ecology and species protection should not be viewed as a “nice-to-have” or an add-on. Pressure on the environment and land use is increasing. A growing population, food production, housing demands – they all stake a claim to precious land.
No-one – not farmers, energy companies or housing developers – can assume that just because land doesn’t fall within a protection category, it doesn’t have value. Often, it does, and there is a duty of care to protect it.
From time to time, we need to remind ourselves of the grand scheme of things. Why has there been such a huge shift towards sustainable energy generation? Principally, it’s to protect the environment for future generations. To make the most of it and ensure it contains an abundance of species, we need to be committed to protecting ecology now.
Roy Dyer, arboricultural and wayleaves team manager, ADAS
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 26th October 2012.
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