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This page of the Acton Bridge website shows media coverage of the proposed pipeline to be constructed between the Mersey Estuary and Northwich, passing through our small Cheshire village. The pipeline would entail very substantial (and unwelcome) disruption to the village and the surrounding area, cutting a 100m-wide swathe through domestic properties and farms.
You can see some of these articles on the newspapers' own websites (which should open in new windows):
Northwich Chronicle
Northwich Guardian
Back to our main pipeline page.
Revision of 15. August 2007
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On 15. August the Northwich Guardian (p8) carried an article by James Wilson, with a photo of Parish Councillor Steve Pardoe looking at the latest plans for the route of the proposed pipeline. |
| The NPL pipeline was the front page story with a banner headline on the Northwich Chronicle of 6. June, again quoting the concerns of Acton bridge Parish Council about the threats of compulsory purchase. Such powers could be enforced under the Pipelines Act to go through agricultural land where agreement could not be reached with the owners.
Mr Simon Towers, Managing Director of NPL Estates said the final route through the area would have to be defined before the planning application is submitted, and anyone affected would be consulted. |
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On 6. June the Northwich Guardian (p10) carried an article by Vivien Kandel, again raising concerns about Compulsory Purchase Orders, which the developers had not ruled out at the meeting on 30. May. Simon Towers of NPL Estates was quoted as saying: "This compulsory purchase issue is blowing up out of all proportion. No one has special powers to go through people's gardens. We are not looking at going through gardens, we are looking at getting consent from agricultural landowners."
However, Mr Towers conceded that NPL, as a small company, was only fronting the project and would be backed by a major 'gas shipper' such as Transco or E-on, though he was not able to name the partners they are considering. He said such a body would have its own powers of Compulsory Purchase, which was a serious concern to several residents and contradicted the assurances previously given by Mr Towers that NPL itself 'were not looking at private compulsory purchase orders'. |
| On 30. May 2007, the Northwich Chronicle carried a "NEWSFile" article advertising the special Parish Council Meeting which was to be held that day.
You can read an abstract from the Minutes of the meeting here. |
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On 16. May the Northwich Guardian (p10) carried an article featuring Simon Towers [1], project manager of NPL Estates, who was quoted as saying: "In terms of people worrying, we will not be going through people's gardens. That is ludicrous. We can understand people might jump to conclusions. We won't be taking the pipeline through private land. We are looking at agricultural land".
Well, it's not at all ludicrous if you look at NPL's own map of the proposed pipeline route, which was issued to some residents of Acton Bridge back in March. An extract is pictured on the right. It clearly shows the 100m wide pipeline corridor (in NPL's blue dashes) covering the entire width of one resident's house and garden, which we have outlined in red for clarity. The small wood and ponds to the west are privately owned by another resident - so it's hardly 'agricultural land'. Mr Towers later apologised for this choice of words to the public meeting. [1] Mr Towers is named as Steve Towers within the Guardian article, but as Simon Towers in their photo caption and on NPL's website. |
| On 2. May 2007, the Northwich Guardian interviewed Peter Young, who said: "We first heard indirectly about the Cheshire Pipeline Project from a letter from the chartered surveyors P Wilson & Co in late February, about a week before completing the purchase of our new home. The corridor that they were proposing to survey for the pipeline stretched from our front gate to the end of our garden.
"Despite this, no information on this had been sent to the previous owner and when I contacted P Wilson they were unable to tell me anything about the need for this project or how this corridor had been selected." He added: "We are very concerned that Cheshire Energy and their partner companies appear to believe that they can force two huge pipelines under gardens adjacent to houses irrespective of the effect on the gardens and services and without the consent of the owners." |
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The Guardian's article continued on page 6 with comments from Simon Towers of NPL Estates, and Steve Molloy of Cheshire County Council, to whom NPL had submitted a Scoping Report.
There have been threats of Compulsory Purchase if residents don't agree to let NPL take their land for the pipeline. The Guardian article also quoted Acton Bridge Parish Council vice-chairman Steve Pardoe, who said: "Clearly we are very concerned and need to know more. A lot of residents feel very unsettled and feel there's some kind of hidden agenda". |
| On 28. March 2007, the Northwich Guardian reported with a front-page article (continued on page 3) on the NPL Cheshire Pipeline Project, quoting Cllr Ann McEllin of Lostock Parish Council and Vale Royal Borough Council. |  |
If you wish to comment on this page, or discuss what impact the NPL pipeline might have on Acton Bridge and the other communities along its route, you can use the e-mail address below. This is shown as an image to avoid spam - please type it into the address line of your message. We should be particularly interested to hear from local government representatives (other Parish Councils, for example) and landowners who are likely to be affected.
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