Understanding Responses to a UK High-Voltage Powerline Proposal: The Role of Place And Project-Based Social Representations
Palavras-chave:
power lines, NIMBYism, symbolic fit, social representations, focus groups interviewsResumo
In going beyond the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) concept, Devine-Wright (2009)
posited a place-based approach highlighting the role of social representations of place
for understanding responses to energy infrastructure projects. Existing studies (Devine-
Wright & Howes, 2010; Anderson, 2013) have investigated the ways in which
representations of diverse forms of place change are anchored and objectified
symbolically based on existing social representations of place. These studies have
shown that the degree of fit between representations of place and proposed place change
can be seen to inform community responses to different developments. There is
however, a dearth of research investigating the symbolic fit of power line projects
amongst existing representations of the English countryside, despite the fact that such
projects are both highly controversial and key to ensuring delivery of low-carbon energy
policy targets. This paper thus sought to explore social representations of a proposed
power line development in Southwest England and their symbolic fit with
representations of nearby countryside areas, given the increased deployment of lowcarbon
energy infrastructure in this locale. Five focus groups were conducted with
residents of a town in North Somerset, to highlight residents’ co-constructed place and
project-based social representations. Findings from thematic data analysis suggest that
those representing the nearby countryside as replete with existing grid infrastructure
objectified the power line proposal as an acceptable and ‘familiar’ form of place change.
Conversely, those representing the countryside as ‘natural’ tended to objectify the
proposal as industrialising this locale, objecting to it on this basis. This study reveals the
utility of adopting Social Representations Theory to understand responses to proposed
energy infrastructure developments given the UK low carbon transition, and suggests
that grid companies could enhance acceptance by seeking to minimise the ‘industrial’
nature of such projects.