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