Judicial review against pylons in the North

Safe Electricity Armagh Tyrone (SEAT) has issued judicial review proceedings against the North-South Interconnector before the High Court in Belfast.

The submission by the lobby group was made earlier this month and challenges decisions made by the Department for Infrastructure in the North relating to planning procedures.

The campaigners are also opposing the discharge of pre-commencement conditions within that process.

As it stands, Eirgrid has cleared all planning hurdles, north and south of the border, to construct 409 pylons - each carrying 400,000 volts - across Cavan, Monaghan, Meath, Armagh, Tyrone.

In Northern Ireland, planning permission was approved in September 2020 by Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon MLA, on behalf of the NI Executive.

That decision was also subject to a judicial review but eventually cleared.

The North South Interconnector also has full planning permission for the southern section of the project. The decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning approval was the subject of judicial review proceedings in the High Court, which were dismissed. An appeal was then dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2019. It was thought that the main construction works for the project would have commenced by mid-2022 following conclusion of the procurement process.

However moves to gain rights to access land have been rebuffed by the vast majority of local farmers in the region, many of whom are represented by the North East Pylon Pressure Committee (NEPPC).

Eirgrid has been contacted for comment.