Park anger over land repair delay

Piles of earth can be seen at Defynnog, near Brecon

National park officials are "gravely concerned" with the lack of progress to restore land along the route of a major natural gas pipeline.

The work on the £1bn project between Pembrokeshire and Gloucestershire was completed last November.

But Brecon Beacons National Park said "extensive areas" of exposed piles of soil meant silt had run off into protected rivers and villages.

National Grid, which built the pipe, said heavy rain made work difficult.

It said it had downed tools over the winter to prevent damage to the soil, but work will start again in the spring.

But the park said restoration work to prevent damage to water courses should have been completed last August.

Far from restoring the countryside as promised, National Grid's legacy worsens Local resident Richard Camp

National park chief executive Chris Gledhill said his staff were working hard to prevent lasting damage, but residents and visitors were rightly concerned about the problems.

Campaigners protested on safety and environmental grounds during construction, and the park also raised strong objections to the 196 mile (316km) pipeline.

Mr Gledhill said: "Brecon Beacons National Park Authority is still reeling from the decision to allow a pipeline to be built through a world conservation unit category five protected landscape and indeed through a Unesco-designated geopark.

"Furthermore, we are gravely concerned on the reinstatement progress to some areas of the pipeline route through the national park."

He added: "There are extensive areas of exposed top-soil resulting in significant silt run-off into protected rivers and local villages.

"Residents and visitors are quite rightly concerned about the issues on the ground, and indeed on their doorsteps and we are working hard to avoid lasting damage."

'Active dialogue'

Richard Camp, who lives near the pipeline in Sennybridge, near Brecon, said there were many problems.

"A lane between Defynnog and Crai (near Brecon) is collapsing into the pipeline trench. Soil loosened where the pipeline goes up a hill is collapsing into the lane," he said.

"There's piles of earth on the side of a road in Defennog, and a field nearby hasn't been re-seeded and is like a sea of mud.

"Far from restoring the countryside as promised, National Grid's legacy worsens."

National Grid said it took its responsibilities for "minimising the pipeline's impact on the environment extremely seriously".

"Our extensive mitigation processes to control the run-off into the rivers have been tested to their limits due to the torrential heavy rainfall," said a company spokeswoman.

"National Grid is in active dialogue with the Environment Agency and Countryside Council for Wales about our mitigation plans and we have made extensive improvements to cope with the heavy rainfall so the rivers are afforded the required protection which we regularly monitor."

The pipeline is capable of carrying a fifth of the natural gas needed in the UK, and is now fully commissioned.