Read online at  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/20/artists-join-business-figures-opposing-sizewell-c-nuclear-power/

Artists join business figures in opposing Sizewell C nuclear power station construction plans
Patrick Sawer, senior news reporter

20 MARCH 2019 • 7:00PM
A coalition of actors, broadcasters and entrepreneurs is warning that building work to replace Sizewell nuclear power station will “lay waste” to swathes of Suffolk’s most idyllic landscape.

Bill Turnbull, the broadcaster; actors Bill Nighy and Diana Quick; the novelist Esther Freud and renowned sculptor Maggi Hambling are among those voicing their opposition to the movement of tons of construction materials and waste to and from the site.

They say the plans could mean 1,500 lorries a day thundering through the quiet Suffolk countryside, with construction work disrupting the lives of residents and carving up farms and communities for years to come.

The energy giant EDF Energy, which runs the Sizewell A and B nuclear power stations, is currently completing a public consultation exercise on plans to build a new replacement plant, Sizewell C, before submitting an application for development consent, with building work on the estimated £14 billion project due to start in 2021.

In an open letter published in today’s Daily Telegraph opponents say the plans will not only threaten an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but also jeopardise the area’s lucrative tourism industry.

Campaigners, who also include Matthew Freud, the PR guru, Melvin Benn, who runs the Latitude music festival and Humphrey Burton, the classical music presenter and broadcaster, say the plans also threaten the viability of a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the area, along with the RSPB’s famous Minsmere Reserve.

David Wood, chairman of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB said: “The impact will be phenomenal. This is a designated national park that will be virtually cut in two for a minimum of 10 years.

“This is a fragile and beautiful landscape worth many millions a year in tourism and the impact will be devastating.”

The row comes after EDF announced its construction plans would involve transporting materials for the project by road to and from the A12 rather than by sea.

Previous proposals to transport the material along the coast, to and from a jetty at the site, were scrapped in the light of fears over the impact on marine wildlife and protected seabirds.

In the letter the campaigners, who also include Andy Wood, the chief executive of Adnams, the Suffolk brewery and hotelier, and actor Helen Atkinson-Wood, state: “We are deeply concerned that EDF Energy’s Sizewell C plans will lay waste to large portions of this rich and diverse part of the country.

“Landscapes, wildlife and residents of this unique part of the British Isles will suffer enormously.”

It adds: “This is not hyperbole – the level of disruption will jeopardise tourism to the AONB, valued at more than £210m/year, as holidaymakers no longer associate the area with peace and tranquillity, and seek to avoid traffic chaos caused by the construction of Sizewell C.”

Andy Wood told The Telegraph: “It’s not that I’m against new nuclear, it’s that I’m against the scale of this. It puts at serious risk the tourism economy that has grown substantially over the years.”

Among those who say their lives will be turned upside down by the building work is Paul Field, a tech entrepreneur who lives eight miles from the Sizewell plant.

He says EDF is planning to build a busy construction depot just yards from his family’s farmhouse, where he lives with his wife Michaela and their three daughters, effectively slashing thousands of pounds off the value of his property.

Mr Field, a former newspaper executive, says that their lives will be made a misery by the construction work.

“The last thing Michaela and I want for our daughters is the upheaval of moving from a home we love, but we accept there is no alternative,” he said. “EDF admits we will suffer ‘significant adverse effects’ from noise. At the peak of construction, 1,500 HGVs and 6,000 other vehicles would thunder past each day.”

EDF Energy said that it “takes  its responsibilities to the environment and local communities seriously” and that it had a  “good track record of looking after nature around our operating power station at Sizewell B”.

It added: “The environmental sensitivities of the local area have been a key consideration in the development of our proposals for Sizewell C.  Our ecologists have continued to undertake environmental surveys and identify likely impacts to help inform our proposals.  Our planners have worked with local councils to develop a transport strategy for workers and freight that minimises the impact on local roads.

“We understand that how our workers travel to site and how we move freight is important to local people during construction.  We will use rail as well as road transport and a beach landing facility to move freight.  Our aim is to maximise the huge benefits in jobs and skills for local people, especially the young, whilst minimising the environmental impact of the project.”

Press Release, 6 March 2019

Campaigners to attend Suffolk County Council Cabinet on 12 March

Energy Groups come together for Photocall at Endeavour House, 1pm

Campaigners from Theberton and Eastbridge Action Group on Sizewell (TEAGS), B1122 Action Group and Minsmere Levels Stakeholder Group will join other energy-related campaign groups at Suffolk County Council HQ next week, to hold a short colourful demonstration and to ask questions at the Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet will be discussing its draft joint response (with Suffolk Coastal District Council) to EDF’s Stage 3 Sizewell C & D consultations and Scottish Power Renewables’ Phase 4 East Anglia One (North) and Two Windfarm consultations.

Groups and communities are stepping up to protect the Suffolk coast from a ‘perfect storm’ of seven huge energy construction projects that threaten to industrialise the area. Bound by a common desire to protect the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the area’s wild beauty and tranquility, the groups are calling for more central government leadership to ensure that all the impacts are fully assessed and justified together.

When: Tuesday 12 March, 1pm (Cabinet meeting begins at 2pm)

Where: Suffolk County Council HQ, Endeavour House, Ipswich

Reaction to the Joint Councils’ draft response to EDF’s Stage 3 consultations:

Alison Downes of TEAGS said “We are glad the Councils are making a joint response, and that they are not yet persuaded that the benefits of Sizewell C & D outweigh the impacts, as in our view the impacts have significantly increased since Stage 2, especially since EDF has abandoned a marine-led transport strategy. We appreciate Councillor Smith’s recognition that EDF has underplayed these impacts.” [1]

Paul Collins of TEAGS and MLSG said: “The Councils’ expressed concerns about the ecological impacts of Sizewell C & D, the risks to Minsmere and the threat to coastal processes are all in tune with our own views and we would have liked to see these issues included among the items that the Councils are “not content” about. We also appreciate the Councils’ acknowledgement that the location of the accommodation campus at Eastbridge remains a local concern.“ [2]

Charles Macdowell of B1122 Action Group said: ‘We welcome the fact that the Councils cannot support  EDF’s proposed Link Road [3] – a route which we strongly oppose – nor the prospect of 24 hour HGV traffic. We very much support their view that alternative routes need to be reconsidered, with much lower impacts on local people and their communities.”

Addressing the Groups’ shared concerns about the multiple energy projects planned for the area, Michael Mahony of SASES, Alison Downes, Paul Collins and Charles Macdowell said: “We are being failed both by the developers and by government. It is farcical that EDF’s and Scottish Power Renewables’ final consultations are running simultaneously with no proper assessment of their collective impacts on local people, roads and the environment. The number and sheer scale of these  projects are simply too much for this area. Communities are feeling overwhelmed, and we want to see more visible political support. The buck stops in Westminster – and we want Ministers to come to Suffolk to address our concerns, and take action to prevent this beautiful area from being swamped and destroyed by multiple  energy developments.”

Notes:

[1] Councillor Richard Smith said “We know from local knowledge and the feedback we have received through well informed community representation that some of the proposed impacts on the environment and our towns and villages would prove greater than which EDF Energy currently predicts.” https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/news/suffolk-councils-response-to-sizewell-c-proposals/

[2] Point 12 b xi of the draft response.

[3] Point 12 b xv ii of the draft response. “The provision of a relief road for the B1122 is welcome but the option proposed is yet to be supported by sufficient evidence”.

Contacts

TEAGS: info@stopsizewellc.org. Co Chairs Alison Downes, 07711 843884 or Paul Collins, 01728 635097. www.facebook.com/stopsizewellc.org, @TEAGonSizewell.

B1122 Action Group: Chair Charles Macdowell c.n.macdowell@gmail.com, 01728 648217 www.facebook.com/B1122relief

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/sizewell-c-concerns-bring-hundreds-to-theberton-church-1-5904154

Suffolk residents pack out Theberton church to have their say on Sizewell C

PUBLISHED: 15:57 23 February 2019

Oliver Sullivan

Theberton church was full for the meeting called to discuss Sizewell C plans. Picture: PAUL GEATER

Theberton church, near Leiston, was packed out for a meeting to allow residents to voice their concerns about the proposed project.

This would see a new low-carbon twin reactor nuclear power station next to existing stations Sizewell A and B, the former having been shut down for decommissioning in 2006.

The meeting was chaired by broadcaster and Theberton resident Bill Turnbull who said it was important to give local people the chance to express their concerns about the proposals.

Residents have long been concerned that the plan will have long-lasting effects on the areas environment and tourist industry, while other issues such as roads, traffic and an anti-nuclear attitude were also voiced in the meeting organised by Theberton and Eastbridge Action Group on Sizewell (TEAGS).

Bill Turnbull chaired the meeting at Theberton Church. Picture: PAUL GEATER

TEAGS representative Charles McDowell said that “The link road they have proposed will cut parishes in two, breaks up fields and makes them inviable for farming.

“It makes you wonder if they [EDF] are out for revenge against the people of Theberton.”

The power station’s proximity to nationally renowned nature reserve, RSPB Minsmere ruffled feathers with residents concerned for the safety of the birds, and in turn the effect a downturn would have on the local tourism economy, worth £250 million.

Adam Rowlands, the RSPB’s Suffolk area manager, said: “In terms of flora and fauna in the area, this is a matter of international importance.”

Another resident said that the plans could see a ‘decimated natural environment’ left for his children and grandchildren.

County councillor Guy McGregor, who was responsible for the council’s previous response to the plan, said that although it would see opportunities for employment, the problems outweighed the benefits, highlighting the ‘constant stream’ of heavy goods vehicles that would create traffic and pollution.

EDF’s plans could see up to 1,500 HGVs on the county’s roads, in addition to the extra traffic that would be created by the construction of a new build town or campus which would house 2,400 workers at Eastbridge.

Richard Smith – who is now the county councillor leading negotiations with EDF – praised the efforts of TEAGS and residents, saying: “There is no better way for a community to voice its concerns like how you have. It sends a huge message to EDF.”

Mr Smith did warn however that the authority has ‘no direct power’, but urged residents to continue their campaign.