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National Grid are intending to refurbish the low voltage electricity line within Wootton Courtenay. This is to improve the reliability and capacity of the lines and hopefully reduce the amount of interruptions to customers supplies caused during bad weather. The start date is the 5th of June.

The overall intention is to carry out the works as follows:

Under the initial road closure we erect all the poles and stay support wires, using excavators and a lorry. (Stay support wires are the wires that go from pole top down to a galvanised rod into the ground to support the pole.) We will then return from the 1st of September to the 12th to carry out the pole changes, replacement of existing wires with new bundled insulated conductor, BT wire transfer (done by Kelly Communications on behalf of BT) and, finally, removal of all poles by National Grid.

The intention is to avoid having to come back and cause further disruption with more road closures and old poles being left for months after.

All new poles are erected next to existing ones by our poling team, SJS Southwest. No poles will be erected without speaking to the landowner and arranging access first. We cannot move poles into new locations, as that has a knock-on effect on pole positions further on. Any accidental damage caused whilst carrying out works will be put right by National Grid at no cost to the customer.

The areas where National Grid will be occupying the road space is spread across five roads. I have labelled them and each diversion A to E, to simplify.

All Saints’ Church to Brockwell Lane (A)
New Road (B)
Brockwell Lane (C)
Ranscombe Road (D)
Fairgarden Road (E)

During the pole works we will only be working on one road at a time, and at no point during the whole project will we occupy all five roads at once. We will confirm the first road we are starting on and inform you by the end of this week [via village email].

Due to BT Openreach working in the area, on certain days we will have an extra three diversion routes. I am waiting to hear back from the council to confirm which days will be affected by Openreach works, and once they are confirmed I will let you know.

Diversion Routes
Each diversion route drawing has been designed by our traffic management provider, Core Highways:

Click here for All Saints’ Church to Brockwell Lane – Diversion A
Click here for New Road – Diversion B
Click here for Brockwell Lane – Diversion C
Click here for Ranscombe Road – Diversion D
Click here for Fairgarden Road – Diversion E

Click here for route avoiding BT Openreach works, Church to Brockwell Lane
Click here for route avoiding BT Openreach works, New Road
Click here for route avoiding BT Openreach works, Ranscombe Road

Access will be maintained for residents. We do ask residents to try and work with us in minimising the amount the contractors have to move, to speed up the process and help us get off the road as quickly as possible. Bin collections and deliveries will be allowed.

All power outages will be confirmed by letter in advance. (Please note we will not generate for businesses affected, only for customers with medical issues).

The initial closure is scheduled for 8 weeks, but hopefully we will be done sooner than this. This is an over-estimation to allow for unexpected hard ground which may delay excavation. However, we cannot guarantee it won’t take the full 8 weeks.

Adam Shepherd
Technician, National Grid