SEDGEMOOR District Council is expected to tell National Grid it should consider using underground cables instead of overhead pylons in some environmentally precious parts of the district.

The council has until next Tuesday to respond to National Grid’s draft proposals for a transmission route connecting the proposed Hinkley C power station with Avonmouth.

A report drafted by officers for a special meeting at 2.30pm tomorrow (Tuesday) says National Grid’s plans should be broadly endorsed, but raises several specific concerns.

It says: “The proposal around the villages of Mark and Tarnock present a number of negative impacts.

“Alternative solutions appear worthy of detailed consideration and comparison, including localised undergrounding”.

The report adds: “The route over the Puriton Ridge requires an understanding of the potential for screening and reduced pylon height.”

The report says it has been hard for officers to reach “firm conclusions” because of “limited information and lack of clear methodologies” from National Grid, but it says based on the information it has received, the underground/overhead proposals within Sedgemoor appear “broadly compliant” with national policies.

National Grid’s plans include using underground cables within the Mendips Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and replacing the current overhead pylons around areas of Sedgemoor with new ones which are larger, but fewer in number.

It has ruled out wholesale undergrounding as too expensive.

Maggie Gregory, of campaign group Pylon Moor Pressure, is urging the council to reject National Grid’s plans.

She said people were “outraged” that National Grid was proposing overhead pylons through the Levels and Moors, and said people would be willing to pay to bury cables underground.

Tomorrow's meeting takes place in the Sedgemoor Room, at the district council's offices in King Square, Bridgwater.