The Alcanena Chamber approved a motion to reject the route of a Very High Voltage Line (LMAT), which is expected to cross five of the seven parishes in the municipality, an “unacceptable” situation, said the municipal president.
“What is at stake here is a study that, being the subject of a public consultation process, of a new very high voltage line that actually connects Rio Maior to Lavos and that, in our case, crosses and tears the municipality of Alcanena (Santarém), passes through almost all of our parishes, in some cases very careless situations from the point of view of support points and that we, after studying the subject, already realized that the study should have at least three alternatives… apparently this is a bit Chinese-style, it goes through here and that’s the end of it, which is unacceptable”, Rui Anastácio, president of the municipality, told Lusa today.
The National Electricity Network (REN) project has a length of around 72 kilometers (Km), and the proposed route “crosses almost the entire municipality of Alcanena, over a length of around 20 Km”, indicated the Municipal Assembly de Alcanena, in a statement reporting the approval, on March 27th, of a motion to reject a document that is under public consultation until Wednesday, April 3rd.
According to the same note, “the Environmental Impact Study should have evaluated other route options, based on objective sustainability criteria, which was not carried out”.
In this sense, he argues, “the option of using existing lines promoting their duplication appears to be an important strategy to minimize interference with people, natural heritage and cultural heritage”, noting that “This was not considered in this case, as it would be possible to reinforce the lines that connect Rio Maior – Pego and Pego – Batalha”.
The Municipal Assembly, “supporting the position presented by the executive, “vehemently rejects the implementation of the Lavos – Rio Maior Line project”, can be read in the informative note, having concluded that “the conditions are not met to accept the proposed route, with great impact” in the municipality, a position supported by Rui Anastácio.
“A certain outline is imposed, without even studying the alternatives, this is absolutely unacceptable in a state of law”, the mayor told Lusa, having declared that the document “already had close to 500 participations” in the public consultation phase, “which is revealing of the indignation that this modus operandi on the part of REN is arousing”.
The factors that justify this position are based, among others, “on interference with natural values and biodiversity” and on “urban and agricultural areas”, along with “increased visual intrusion and alteration of the landscape” and “crossing of areas with cultural heritage”, with “affectation of water resources” in the municipality.
“Our approach is this: firstly, if there is a need for a line, then it must be evaluated and various alternatives must be defined. But the issue here is that there is no need for this new line, that is, it is possible to reinforce lines that already exist. We have already demonstrated this even from a technical point of view, therefore, there is no need for this line”, said Anastácio, having indicated that he would go and ask the new Minister of the Environment for a meeting today.
“I have also been having periodic conversations with my colleague from Batalha, who has the same problem, and we have a consensus position between us. In fact, today we will ask the Minister of the Environment for a hearing (…) in order to avoid this new line, with the constraints it implies for the territories”, he stressed.
“We were faced with a route that is unique, without alternatives and that we do not accept, and the slogan is: the line will not pass through the municipality of Alcanena and I am sure that this position is also shared by the population of the municipality of Batalha” , he concluded.
Lusa
