Survey tool
An assessment form to prioritise lines to be placed underground for landscape reasons has been developed in cooperation with United Utilities. It helps to identify the most intrusive overhead wires in an area and has been used for this purpose both locally and at locations across the country. It looks at factors such as the number of wires and poles, visibility from footpaths and viewpoints and setting in the local landscape. A score is calculated for each line assessed thus rating its landscape impact. This assessment form is a useful tool in deciding which are in the 'worst' lines in an area - copies can be obtained from our office - or download Visual Amenity Impact Assessment Form

A volunteer who surveyed lines at Foxhole Wood (just to the north west of Crosthwaite in the Lyth Valley) assessed this line (see above) using the survey tool. It has been prioritised for undergrounding.

Electricity transmission
Transmission is the high voltage network that transfers large quantities of electricity from generators to distribution networks. Though our focus remains with the electricity distribution companies, we do take the opportunity to correspond with Ofgem on transmission issues when appropriate.

Telephone Lines
We would like to see a similar initiative to that for electricity distribution for the telecommunications industry, but this is proving very difficult. When appropriate opportunities arise we talk with both the regulator Ofcom and the main network provider BT Openreach.