EAST Hampshire District CouncilÕs North planning committee can expect a strong turnout at Amery Hill School next week for a debate on a controversial proposal for the installation of an overhead electricity cable spanning open countryside from Preston Candover to Holybourne.

The application by Southern Electric Power Distribution plc is a section one item, which will enable speakers to address the meeting on behalf of the objectors, the applicant and the parish councils concerned.

Planners deferred making a decision on the proposal at their November meeting to allow time for a site visit.

The decision reflected concerns ranging from the environmental impact of a 33kV overhead line to the effect of electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) on those living close to the proposed cables.

The aim of the site visit was to look at the main areas of contention along the route armed with information packs, in order to assess the application as comprehensively as possible. And the deferral was also to give Southern Electric sufficient time to produce further supporting evidence, especially of need.

The proposal, which would be expected to ensure a firm supply of electricity to people living in rural areas to the north and west of Alton and in the town of Alresford, is for the installation of a single circuit, 33,000 volt overhead line, which would connect up with the existing Alton to Basingstoke double circuit at Holybourne.

Supported on 14 ft high wooden poles, the overhead configuration used would be similar to the 11kV lines which already cross the area to provide local supplies but which are now proving inadequate.

According to Southern Electric, the existing electricity supply to the area is currently supplied via three 33kV to 11kV sub-stations located at Alresford, Preston Candover and Herriard, which themselves are supplied via a ring circuit, both ends of which are fed from the Alton 132/33kV sub-station. There are said to be limited interconnections at 11kV between these sub-stations and other sub-stations in Alton, Basingstoke, Overton and Winchester.

The need for an upgrading of the system has been prompted by an increase in the total load fed from this group of sub-stations which has risen to a point where, following a fault on one of the 33kV circuits from Alton, the other circuit is subject to overload.

An overload condition can result in damage to the circuit and potential loss of supply to all customers fed from it. This condition has occurred for short periods over the last year and is expected to occur more frequently as the winter loads in the area increase year by year.

Local residents, however, need to be convinced, not necessarily of the need for an improved supply, but of the way in which it is to be provided.

East Hampshire planners have so far received some 26 letters of objection, including those from solicitors acting on behalf of a land owner in Bentworth and agents for the proposed future development of Cadnams Farm in Alton.

The proposed route would bisect land at Cadnams Farm which has been identified in the Local Plan, Second Review, as a reserve housing site and the agents are asking for the line to be amended so as not to conflict with the allocation.

While Alton Town Council has lodged objections about the loss of visual amenity, preferring the cable to be laid underground, Bentworth Parish Council has raised serious concerns about the possible health risks associated with electric and magnetic fields (EMFs). However, having researched the matter further, planning officers have concluded that Òthe levels that would occur with this proposal would not appear to be particularly intensive when compared to normal levels of exposure within the homeÓ.

As such they will be recommending that, subject to additional information and further negotiations on the precise route of the power line in the area north of Bentworth and south of Shalden, the planning committee should raise no objection to the application.

l Those wishing to attend East Hampshire District CouncilÕs North planning committee meeting on Thursday, January 16, should note that, starting at 6-30 pm, it is to be held at Amery Hill School.