https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/edf-asked-not-to-suibmit-dco-until-after-covid-19-1-6607925

PUBLISHED: 11:54 15 April 2020 | UPDATED: 11:54 15 April 2020

Richard Cornwell

The company intends to make a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the twin-reactor nuclear power station in the next few weeks.

It has assured the public that there will be time for them to give their views, even if the restrictions on movement because of the coronavirus continue.

A total of 54 town and parish councils in east Suffolk have already written to EDF asking for the DCO to be put on hold until after the crisis is over.

In a joint statement, Stephen Brett, chairman of Theberton and Eastbridge Parish Council, and Tim Beach, chairman of Snape Parish Council, who led the letter from town and parish councils, said: “EDF’s reply to 54 town and parish councils fails to adequately address the constraints that we, the district council and county council are under, and our need to focus on maintaining core services.

“It also completely ignores the current concerns of the tens of thousands of ordinary people living in those 54 towns and parishes; their heightened anxiety, sickness or bereavement; loss of employment and money worries; or working on the frontline for the NHS or other essential services.

“For many people, Sizewell C is in itself a source of grave anxiety, so to have to deal with EDF’s application along with everything else at this time is intolerable and unfair.

“We call on EDF again to reconsider.”

Paul Collins, of Stop Sizewell C, said “If EDF’s application is submitted in the near future, then we are particularly concerned about the ability of the older and more vulnerable members of our society to fully and effectively engage in the process.

“Time is not the only issue: many of those who attend our public meetings do not use the internet or would struggle without assistance to access materials effectively. If libraries remain closed and meetings are prohibited, extending the pre-examination period to 12 weeks is unlikely to help such members of our society, hence our call for a delay until coronavirus restrictions are lifted. We remain very concerned about the fairness of this process.”

EDF Energy said people and organisations will have the summer months to read the full planning application and to register their interest if they plan to comment.

It will be asking if this pre-application phase, usually 28 days, can be extended to give people more time to access the documents. At this time, EDF will also distribute a newsletter to 40,000 local homes and businesses.

EDF said: “Crucially, we will also discuss with PINS that the examination phase itself should not start until they are happy that no parties will be disadvantaged. There is no prospect of the examination commencing even in normal circumstances for approximately five to six months.”

Read online at https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/councils-object-to-edf-sizewell-c-tactics-1-6587933

The letter can be viewed/downloaded from here: 53TownParishCouncilsEDF31March

PUBLISHED: 05:30 01 April 2020 Richard Cornwell

More than 50 town and parish councils have sent a letter to EDF urging it not to submit a Development Consent Order until the virus restrictions are fully lifted.

The letter is led by Theberton and Eastbridge Parish Council and Snape Parish Council, and was coordinated by Stop Sizewell C and the Anglian Energy Planning Alliance.

Stephen Brett, chairman of Theberton and Eastbridge PC, said “The sheer weight of numbers of town and parish councils signing this letter is proof of the major concerns held across the county about EDF’s Sizewell C application being submitted in the next few weeks. EDF’s token offer to extend the period for interested parties to register does nothing to address our concerns; it will certainly not help members of our communities who are not online, and I am sure I speak for all local Towns and Parishes when I say how challenging it is making decisions at this time.”

Tim Beach, chairman of Snape PC, added: “A project like Sizewell C will have such significant impacts across the county that it is essential there is robustness of process and full and effective engagement by all stakeholders. We appeal to senior EDF personnel to listen hard to what the parish and town councils – many of whom are statutory consultees – are saying, and to defer their application until all coronavirus restrictions are lifted.”

Alison Downes, of Stop Sizewell C, said: “EDF seems to be on a different planet to the rest of us when it comes to the coronavirus crisis, announcing they would defer submitting a DCO)application for Sizewell C, but only ‘for a few weeks’. By the end of April we could be at peak infection; our local authorities desperately strapped for resources, the Planning Inspectorate with reduced capacity, parish councils still unable to meet and action groups like ours hugely disadvantaged.”

TASC (Together Against Sizewell C) has also issued a similar call. Its secretary Joan Girling said: “If EDF are the ‘good neighbours’ they purport to be, then we would expect they would have the good grace to hold off their DCO application until the SZC Community Forum can be held in public with the fear of contamination having passed.”

An EDF spokesman said: “Across all areas of our business we have recognised the effects that the coronavirus crisis may have on our customers, employees and the communities we serve.

“For that reason, we have announced that we will defer submitting the DCO application Sizewell C for a few weeks. We will ensure that the public have enough time to be able to fully consider the application and are able to share their views.

“To that end we are discussing the following proposals with the Planning Inspectorate: extending the period for relevant representations during the pre-examination phase, introducing measures to make sure everybody is aware of the application when it is submitted, agreeing with the Planning Inspectorate that the examination process itself will not start until they are happy that no parties are disadvantaged.

“The planning inspectorate have confirmed that they do have the resources to process the application.”