Pylon Route Change Limits Impact on Brentwood Housing Development

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Plans to construct a new network of electricity pylons between Tilbury and Norwich have been revised, easing earlier concerns about their effect on a major housing scheme in Brentwood. According to Brentwood Borough Council, the project is no longer expected to cause any “material impact” on the delivery of the proposed Dunton Hills Garden Village, a development that will bring 3,700 new homes to the area.

Originally, the pylon route would have cut directly through the centre of the planned garden village near West Horndon. However, following representations from the council, National Grid has amended the route so that it now runs along the western edge of the site. Only a small section of the new route will cross into the housing development area.

The infrastructure upgrade, part of the National Grid’s broader plans to improve power transmission across Essex and East Anglia, is moving towards formal approval. A Development Consent Order (DCO) application, required for large-scale national infrastructure projects, is expected to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by August 2025.

A council planning officer, speaking during a planning meeting on 29 July, confirmed that the adjustments were made in response to concerns raised by the local authority. She explained: “The routes of the pylons originally, as proposed, went straight through the site, but that was amended following our representation, and now it sits on the edge of the site, so actually it doesn’t impact development.”

While the immediate conflict with the housing site has been resolved, the council noted that further consideration may be given to certain details of the development at a later stage, including building heights in proximity to the pylons. The planning officer added that coordination would be necessary to ensure minimal disruption to residents if both construction projects proceed concurrently.

She stated: “The main thing that we will look at is if both projects are to go ahead, how we manage the construction of both sets of projects on the same site and make sure that the impact to residents is minimised in terms of National Grid accessing the new infrastructure site.”

Brentwood Borough Council continues to engage with National Grid and plans to remain involved throughout the DCO process.