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The UK has notoriously long build times for new power lines which heavily contributes to this problem. I think the FT said a new connection for a big user or po

The UK has notoriously long build times for new power lines which heavily contributes to this problem. I think the FT said a new connection for a big user or power supplier often takes ten years, with planning alone now reaching 4.5 years and half of all new connections getting sued, which is insane considering the productivity loss and how it’s a already known problem. Sadly the government seems dar more interested in forcing digital ids.

raverbashing 1y ago
NIMBYs dragging things down as usual They would probably object to battery installation next to the generators as well
- actionfromafar 1y ago
  Everyone knows battery installations radiate 5G vaccines. Subscribe to my Kennedy-adjacent newsletter.
  - manarth 1y ago
    A vaccine against 5G? That'd really blow some peoples' minds!
    - blitzar 1y ago
      Big vaccine and big telco just want to get their claws into you and then you will need boosters for 6G and 7G
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
- petercooper 1y ago
  They do. A "battery farm" in my area was recently vetoed by the council despite being approved by planning. However, the government has just overridden the council so it's back on.. for now. I think a big problem with the UK is how many "layers" there are for such a small country and how each layer has its own processes of appeal. So you have to get past the local residents, past the planners, past the local council, past the county council, and past the government (not to mention the local MP, if they decide to get involved!) before anything happens when, historically, a more top down approach would be taken to get things going quickly.
  - cameronh90 1y ago
    Also each of those layers have a bunch of sub-layers. Look at any large planning application and you'll find hundreds of pages of consultations with various stakeholders who have no incentive to support it. The NHS, police, fire service, etc. usually raise objections to everything because, obviously, any development makes their jobs more difficult. It serves little purpose besides fodder for the NIMBYs.
    - arethuza 1y ago
      "NHS, police, fire service, etc. usually raise objections to everything" I've never seen any of those organisations raising objections - I don't think they are even consulted on the planning applications I have seen? Planning applications for housing developments usually have a huge number of objections from nearby residents but the few organisations consulted seem to usually say that they've reviewed the plans and they look sensible. Edit: I was looking at a local residential planning application hoping it would pass as it would replace some disused farm buildings that are currently a bit of an eyesore.
      - cameronh90 1y ago
        I live in inner London so maybe it's a regional thing, but developments here usually include consultations from more organisations than I knew existed. Here's a recent one from near me: https://anewcentreforlewisham.com/planning/ https://anewcentreforlewisham.com/planning/ I forget which of the various huge documents contains the local organisational consultations, but one of them does. The planning application itself (DC/24/137871) contains 340 documents. News quotes, for example, Greenwich council: > While the scheme would appear as part of a tall building cluster, it risks harming the open character of Blackheath and the setting of heritage assets. The report requests additional winter views to fully assess visibility and potential harm. (bit of an odd objection considering you can see Canary Wharf from there and there's a heavy traffic road running through the middle of it...) I'm not suggesting that, for example, things like NHS concerns that there aren't enough local hospital beds or whatever aren't important, but I guess my view is that they shouldn't really be part of an individual planning decision.
- formerly_proven 1y ago
  It of course makes sense when you consider that statistically NIMBYs are mostly the property-owning class, which are mostly boomers.
- yrro 1y ago
  Yup. > A solar farm that could have powered “all the households in Witney” has been refused permission by West Oxfordshire District Council. The application, by Ampyr Solar Europe, was for a site at Curbridge, south of Witney. The planning committee focused on the risk of a fire from the proposed battery storage, which they said could contaminate the water supply at a nearby wedding venue. > Cllr Nick Leverton (Con, Carterton South) said: “Most of you will have seen on the motorway the sight of an electric car burning away… there are too many incidents where it was just a small chance and it becomes a big chance. I’ll remind you of Aberfan in 1966; 144 people died, 116 of them children.” The chair of the meeting, Cllr Michael Brooker (Lab, Witney South), is himself a firefighter and replied “I’ve never been to an EV fire. I’ve been to plenty of ICE vehicle fires.” > Cllr Andrew Lyon (Lab, Witney Central) said “Water is the stuff of life… what do they do if they wake up in the morning and can’t turn the tap on?” Meanwhile, Cllr Adrian Walsh (Con, Ducklington) said “Month after month as a committee we get bombarded with these solar farm applications, and we don’t appear to have any strategy as to where they should be located.” > The council’s officers had recommended that the application be approved, but 9 councillors voted against, 1 for, and 3 abstained. These people are absolute buffoons. https://oxfordclarion.uk/clarion-weekly-12-september-2025/ https://oxfordclarion.uk/clarion-weekly-12-september-2025/
  - gambiting 1y ago
    >>West Oxfordshire District Council Are these the same people who refused to let Clarkson open a pub because - and I quote - "it would be too popular"?
    - yrro 1y ago
      No, that was allegedly Cotswold District Council, who refute Clarkeson's portrayal of events: > A spokesperson for Cotswold District Council said: "We absolutely refute that any of the officers or councillors involved in working with Jeremy to realise his vision for the Coach and Horses had 'absolutely nothing positive to say' or were awkward." > They added: "There were in fact several positive meetings between Jeremy and his team, and willing officers and councillors at Cotswold District Council. > "These discussions explored how challenges to renovating this pub could be overcome, as part of the pre-application stage of this project. A planning application was never submitted. > "Upon deciding not to pursue purchase of the pub, Jeremy sent an email via his planning agent thanking the council for being 'so open and supportive', and for trying to find solutions to some of the hurdles needed to overcome renovation of the pub. He stated that 'the march of time and the feasibility of getting this done within a window that works for television' had been the project's undoing." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3ql38yk11o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3ql38yk11o Clarkeson is an entertainer whose goal is to tell a compelling story; often one that bears little resemblance to the truth.
petercooper 1y ago
Tell me about it. I live in a region of the country which has had a very active "no pylons" campaign running for several years now with no resolution in either direction yet. The latest proposal is to bury the lines instead which results in far longer build times, destruction of land, and inconvenience for everyone along the route, and they don't seem to like that idea either.
- wongarsu 1y ago
  Same issue in Germany. And people obviously started resisting the buried lines too. They don't want pylons, but digging 2m deep trenches to put cables in is also too much disruption because now you can't plant trees on those corridors, the ground is disturbed, worries about the heat from the cables, electromagnetic fields, property values. Of course those are the same regions that are also strictly against building wind turbines in the area
  - 1718627440 1y ago
    I don't know why we bother. Just don't ship electricity to them.
ChocolateGod 1y ago
The UKs level of bureaucracy makes Brussels look like a breeze. For any new project it seems we have have years discussing whether we should have a discussion about whether to start a new project.
gambiting 1y ago
Tbf the government just passed anti-blocking legislation that is meant to address exactly this - for national infrastructure projects you won't be able to sue the government over it directly anymore. Whether that's good or bad.....time will tell.
mchr3k 1y ago
The UK government are trying to address this known issue through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. You can find some info on this here - https://open.substack.com/pub/samdumitriu/p/the-planning-and-infrastructure-bill https://open.substack.com/pub/samdumitriu/p/the-planning-and...

raverbashing 1y ago

NIMBYs dragging things down as usual They would probably object to battery installation next to the generators as well

actionfromafar 1y ago
Everyone knows battery installations radiate 5G vaccines. Subscribe to my Kennedy-adjacent newsletter.
- manarth 1y ago
  A vaccine against 5G? That'd really blow some peoples' minds!
  - blitzar 1y ago
    Big vaccine and big telco just want to get their claws into you and then you will need boosters for 6G and 7G
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
petercooper 1y ago
They do. A "battery farm" in my area was recently vetoed by the council despite being approved by planning. However, the government has just overridden the council so it's back on.. for now. I think a big problem with the UK is how many "layers" there are for such a small country and how each layer has its own processes of appeal. So you have to get past the local residents, past the planners, past the local council, past the county council, and past the government (not to mention the local MP, if they decide to get involved!) before anything happens when, historically, a more top down approach would be taken to get things going quickly.
- cameronh90 1y ago
  Also each of those layers have a bunch of sub-layers. Look at any large planning application and you'll find hundreds of pages of consultations with various stakeholders who have no incentive to support it. The NHS, police, fire service, etc. usually raise objections to everything because, obviously, any development makes their jobs more difficult. It serves little purpose besides fodder for the NIMBYs.
  - arethuza 1y ago
    "NHS, police, fire service, etc. usually raise objections to everything" I've never seen any of those organisations raising objections - I don't think they are even consulted on the planning applications I have seen? Planning applications for housing developments usually have a huge number of objections from nearby residents but the few organisations consulted seem to usually say that they've reviewed the plans and they look sensible. Edit: I was looking at a local residential planning application hoping it would pass as it would replace some disused farm buildings that are currently a bit of an eyesore.
    - cameronh90 1y ago
      I live in inner London so maybe it's a regional thing, but developments here usually include consultations from more organisations than I knew existed. Here's a recent one from near me: https://anewcentreforlewisham.com/planning/ https://anewcentreforlewisham.com/planning/ I forget which of the various huge documents contains the local organisational consultations, but one of them does. The planning application itself (DC/24/137871) contains 340 documents. News quotes, for example, Greenwich council: > While the scheme would appear as part of a tall building cluster, it risks harming the open character of Blackheath and the setting of heritage assets. The report requests additional winter views to fully assess visibility and potential harm. (bit of an odd objection considering you can see Canary Wharf from there and there's a heavy traffic road running through the middle of it...) I'm not suggesting that, for example, things like NHS concerns that there aren't enough local hospital beds or whatever aren't important, but I guess my view is that they shouldn't really be part of an individual planning decision.
formerly_proven 1y ago
It of course makes sense when you consider that statistically NIMBYs are mostly the property-owning class, which are mostly boomers.
yrro 1y ago
Yup. > A solar farm that could have powered “all the households in Witney” has been refused permission by West Oxfordshire District Council. The application, by Ampyr Solar Europe, was for a site at Curbridge, south of Witney. The planning committee focused on the risk of a fire from the proposed battery storage, which they said could contaminate the water supply at a nearby wedding venue. > Cllr Nick Leverton (Con, Carterton South) said: “Most of you will have seen on the motorway the sight of an electric car burning away… there are too many incidents where it was just a small chance and it becomes a big chance. I’ll remind you of Aberfan in 1966; 144 people died, 116 of them children.” The chair of the meeting, Cllr Michael Brooker (Lab, Witney South), is himself a firefighter and replied “I’ve never been to an EV fire. I’ve been to plenty of ICE vehicle fires.” > Cllr Andrew Lyon (Lab, Witney Central) said “Water is the stuff of life… what do they do if they wake up in the morning and can’t turn the tap on?” Meanwhile, Cllr Adrian Walsh (Con, Ducklington) said “Month after month as a committee we get bombarded with these solar farm applications, and we don’t appear to have any strategy as to where they should be located.” > The council’s officers had recommended that the application be approved, but 9 councillors voted against, 1 for, and 3 abstained. These people are absolute buffoons. https://oxfordclarion.uk/clarion-weekly-12-september-2025/ https://oxfordclarion.uk/clarion-weekly-12-september-2025/
- gambiting 1y ago
  >>West Oxfordshire District Council Are these the same people who refused to let Clarkson open a pub because - and I quote - "it would be too popular"?
  - yrro 1y ago
    No, that was allegedly Cotswold District Council, who refute Clarkeson's portrayal of events: > A spokesperson for Cotswold District Council said: "We absolutely refute that any of the officers or councillors involved in working with Jeremy to realise his vision for the Coach and Horses had 'absolutely nothing positive to say' or were awkward." > They added: "There were in fact several positive meetings between Jeremy and his team, and willing officers and councillors at Cotswold District Council. > "These discussions explored how challenges to renovating this pub could be overcome, as part of the pre-application stage of this project. A planning application was never submitted. > "Upon deciding not to pursue purchase of the pub, Jeremy sent an email via his planning agent thanking the council for being 'so open and supportive', and for trying to find solutions to some of the hurdles needed to overcome renovation of the pub. He stated that 'the march of time and the feasibility of getting this done within a window that works for television' had been the project's undoing." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3ql38yk11o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3ql38yk11o Clarkeson is an entertainer whose goal is to tell a compelling story; often one that bears little resemblance to the truth.

petercooper 1y ago

Tell me about it. I live in a region of the country which has had a very active "no pylons" campaign running for several years now with no resolution in either direction yet. The latest proposal is to bury the lines instead which results in far longer build times, destruction of land, and inconvenience for everyone along the route, and they don't seem to like that idea either.

wongarsu 1y ago
Same issue in Germany. And people obviously started resisting the buried lines too. They don't want pylons, but digging 2m deep trenches to put cables in is also too much disruption because now you can't plant trees on those corridors, the ground is disturbed, worries about the heat from the cables, electromagnetic fields, property values. Of course those are the same regions that are also strictly against building wind turbines in the area
- 1718627440 1y ago
  I don't know why we bother. Just don't ship electricity to them.

ChocolateGod 1y ago

The UKs level of bureaucracy makes Brussels look like a breeze. For any new project it seems we have have years discussing whether we should have a discussion about whether to start a new project.

gambiting 1y ago

Tbf the government just passed anti-blocking legislation that is meant to address exactly this - for national infrastructure projects you won't be able to sue the government over it directly anymore. Whether that's good or bad.....time will tell.

mchr3k 1y ago

The UK government are trying to address this known issue through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. You can find some info on this here - https://open.substack.com/pub/samdumitriu/p/the-planning-and-infrastructure-bill https://open.substack.com/pub/samdumitriu/p/the-planning-and...