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Opinion

The Closed List System and the End of NIMBYism

By Mark Mansfield
There are many signs like this opposing new pylons in Carmarthenshire. Photo Dylan Walters

Jonathan Edwards

We haven’t got to the end of January, yet the award for the bravest political declaration is already in the bag for Labour MP Jess Assato.

Ms Assato, who represents Lowestoft in Suffolk, has publicly supported pylon infrastructure by National Grid linking Norwich and Tilbury (Essex) along a 180km route.

With a majority of only around 2000 in a traditional Conservative seat and as a new MP it would have been far safer politically for Ms Assato to follow the path of another new MP for the region, Adrian Ramsey (Waveney Valley), and criticise the proposals. Mr Ramsey after all is a Green MP.

As an elected member I knew that my re-election hopes in successive elections were built on being an advocate for the communities I represented.

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Rage

Being perceived as an effective MP transcended political divides. While there is broad support for the need to achieve net zero, communities that face the infrastructure required to achieve the objective, such as electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure, rise in rage.

I would say that the successful campaign my team organised to alter metal pylon infrastructure to wooden pylons for a distribution project linking Brechfa forest in the north of Carmarthenshire to Llandyfaelog in the south of the county was largely responsible for my election victory in 2015.

I remember one conversation I had with my friend Hywel Williams, the MP for Arfon, soon after getting elected, when I was considering my position on one wind farm application which faced significant local opposition. His wise words of counsel were along the lines of “if people don’t think you represent them, they will find someone who does”.

In a highly marginal constituency, he was of course on the money - hence my admiration for the bravery of Ms Assato.

Principles are important in politics, but at the end of the day it is pragmatism that gets you elected.

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Soloutions

In my defence I would often taper my criticism of developments by offering possible solutions. In the case of the Brechfa to Llandyfaelog project, we managed to reduce its visual impact.

In the case of the proposed Usk-Towy project, which has caused uproar in Carmarthenshire, I argued for the use of cable ploughing technology. Someone should send Ms Assato a briefing note.

Most politicians view campaigns against developments as opportunities to build incumbency support and gather data. When electors sign petitions by political parties, they achieve zero influence over decision making. However, the data collected is cynically used by politicians for their own ends in promoting their propaganda.

Social media has also made it far easier for community groups to organise and mobilise. It takes a very brave politician to say no when asked to support a campaign.

Hence, we have witnessed in near memory in Wales the unsightly spectacle of Government Ministers holding placards against the inevitable results of their own policies.

Another response by the Welsh political class has been to absolve themselves from any responsibility to avoid accountability. For example Health Ministers blame Health Boards for all decisions. When it comes to the proposed Towy-Usk project by Green Gen Cymru, local Senedd Members have decided to run a full-frontal campaign against the company behind the project while neglecting to inform local people that the company is operating within Welsh planning policy which the politicians are responsible for.

The legal system utilised in England and Wales also gives enormous power to individuals to challenge developments. This isn’t the case in all legal systems; hence the UK Government's determination to streamline planning decision making via the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Nimbyism

Politically therefore we have developed a culture based on Nimbyism which is an enormous barrier for Wales and the UK when it comes to achieving change, be it economic development, the net zero transition or reconfiguration of public services such as health.

Many, including myself, have been critical of the new voting system to be deployed at the next Senedd election. Nobody post-2026 is going to know who their Senedd Members are unless they are involved in public affairs. Incumbency building will be more marginal when it comes to determining future elections.

The anonymity that Senedd Members will enjoy should enable them to rise above the age of Nimbyism and put the national interest first and push through policies that are unpopular in a local context but vital from a national perspective. Will the post-2026 Senedd Members get the memo and change their ways?

Jonathan Edwards was the MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr 2010 - 2024

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11 comments

Another Richard

It’s an excellent question: will less accountability lead to better decisions? Time will tell; if nothing else it will be a fascinating experiment.

Reply
Cyrano Jones

Popular decisions aren't always right; but unpopular decisions aren't always right either. Sometimes someone's back yard is more important than a pylon line, the benefits of which are probably being oversold by well-paid lobbyists and consultants. The alternative to local accountability isn't a system where wise leaders listen to expert advice and take correct actions in the long-term public interest; it's a system where politicians do the bidding of whoever has the most money. That's what we already have, and it's going to get worse.

Reply
Mab Meirion

The 'Cosy Nostra'...'our thing'...one more stitch in the Bae stitch-up...

Reply
Llew Gruffudd.

The problem with this argument, is that ' national interest ' may well be decided by the anonymous unaccountable politicians who you seem to be championing. National interest is more often than not defined by private profit. A case in point is pylons. The Nimbyism that you wish to see ended, is often genuine local concern. Gas and water is transported underground as there is no alternative, so can electricity, however it is more profitable overland. You isolate so called Nimbys as if they are anti public interest, but if Nimbys throughout have the same concerns, that too can be public interest. In this particular example, the call of not in my back yard, would be greatly diminished if it went under the back yard. We shall see if the anonymous, unaccountable representatives see the national interest being served by reigning in the those despoiling the countryside by blackmailing government with the too often used, ' cost' weapon.

Reply
Llyn

Please can you let me know how elected politicians in a nation's legislature, speaking and making decisions on the record are "anonymous unaccountable politicians"?

Reply
Llew Gruffudd.

The explanation for your question lies in the opinion piece. My comment is in the context of and quotes from that piece. It seems to indicate that the new system in the Senedd would allow for less transparency, but for an answer to your question, you should perhaps direct it at the writer of the article.

Reply
John Ellis

I wonder whether the real root cause underlying this opposition to pylons is simply that they're an innovation unfamiliar in the places where they're proposed? I grew up south of Manchester, and since the lines of pylons were already in situ along the Mersey valley floodplain and stalking across much familiar adjacent countryside before I was born, I thought nothing of them. Indeed, insofar as I considered them at all, they seemed to me to have a sort of weird spidery grace! And maybe it's worth remembering that in the mid-19th century there was much upper- and middle-class public opposition to the development of the railways on the grounds that they would be a defilement of the countryside. Whereas now we especially celebrate the most obtrusive examples of 'railway architecture' - think, for instance, the Knucklas and Cynghordy viaducts on the Shrewsbury to Swansea line - and see them as scenic attractions!

Reply
Rob

I have seen material from the anti-pylon campaigners along the lines of "why industrialise this landscape?" alongside a picture that includes the Cynghordy viaduct. I've always been of the opinion that the next generations will come to see turbines on the hills as a graceful and natural addition. I'm not not sure about pylons, though, I must admit.

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John Ellis

I agree entirely with you about the turbines. When I go out of our back door and look westward, I see over a dozen turbines crowning the hills there. When the morning sun catches them - when we get sun! - they do indeed look, to me at least, graceful and attractive. As for pylons, I suppose I can only say that if you've never seen your countryside without them, you genuinely don't much notice them - they just sort of 'blend in'.

Reply
Simon

Taking this conversation beyond electricity pylons, there is a need for politicians and community groups to think about the long-term future of our nation. Infrastructure is vital to Wales' success, framed as it is, in competition with myriad other smaller nations across the planet. Those of us who would see Cymru rise to the top, and move from its current subservient role to England and Westminster's whims, see the need for major infrastructure projects: such as north-south high-speed rail, localised healthcare facilities, technology hubs across the nation etc. Making these ambitious but achievable projects a reality, will likely require the political and commercial pragmatism of which Mr. Edwards speaks.

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Llew Gruffudd.

I was with you all the way, until you reached 'political and commercial pragmatism ' Pragmatic in those terms usually comes down to cost or difficult politically, or profit commercially. Pragmatism finds more reasons not to do these ambitious projects, than the contrary. Rather, I think, imagination, innovation and dynamism, is what will see Wales rise to the top.

Reply

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Replying to Another Richard Cancel

It’s an excellent question: will less accountability lead to better decisions? Time will tell; if nothing else it will be a fascinating experiment.

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