Portsmouth City Council continues to exert pressure over proposed Aquind Interconnector

The leader of a council has promised to keep opposing a proposed £1. 2 billion electricity connection between two countries, as a final decision approaches.

Aquind Ltd wants to connect Portsmouth and Normandy in France by placing cables.

Portsmouth City Council recently made an agreement with a company to make sure their sea defense work is not negatively affected by the plans.

But leader Steve Pitt has said the authority will keep fighting against the interconnector scheme.

The ideas were first presented in 2019. The High Court reversed a government decision from 2022 that had blocked the project.

This means that the plans were returned to the ministers who will soon make a final decision.
Mr Pitt thinks that the suggested route is not possible and not good, and he wants them to think the same and say no to the idea.

The cable would come to the shore at Eastney and be laid through Portsmouth and the countryside of Hampshire to Lovedean.

MrPitt said that it will greatly affect the daily lives and well-being of our residents and also have a negative impact on our environment.

He said that the recent agreement with Aquind was a necessary process that was done without any negative impact.

This document explains how the council and Aquind would cooperate to prevent conflicts between the ongoing fourth and fifth phases of the North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme and the construction of the interconnector.

Earlier this month, the director of Aquind, Richard Glasspool, said that signing the agreement demonstrated that the company was prepared to work collaboratively with the council and other organizations.

A company representative said before that the interconnector is very important infrastructure. It can give up to 5% of the electricity that Britain uses in a year, which is enough to power five million homes.

However, campaigners, councillors, and local MPs expressed their worries about problems like harm to the environment and disturbance happening throughout the city.