Overview
- In August 2026 Etchea Energy’s project lead Simon Ludlam said the company received “hundreds of calls” after a BBC interview and asked planners to change the Greenlink landfall to avoid the fan‑made Dobby memorial at Freshwater West.
- The Greenlink interconnector, which entered service in 2025, is a roughly 125‑mile, £430 million undersea power link built to share renewable electricity between Ireland and the UK and to increase grid security.
- The National Trust allowed the unofficial Dobby shrine to remain in 2022 but has urged visitors not to leave items such as socks or painted stones because the beach is environmentally sensitive.
- Archaeological work near the revised cable route uncovered possible Bronze Age burial material, including a collared urn, and planners report they adjusted alignments to avoid disturbing those remains.
- The episode highlights how media exposure and organised public response can reshape technical siting decisions and forces trade‑offs between cultural memorials, heritage protection and infrastructure delivery.