Representation by Westleton Parish Council (Westleton Parish Council)
- Date submitted
- 14 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Parish councils
We [Westleton Parish Council] wish to raise the following issues of concern about Sizewell C. 1. Community, Economic and social impacts • Construction will cause significant environmental, social & economic damage to the local area. • The extensive scale of the construction site, the associated workforce and the location of the site itself will severely damage an area of outstanding natural beauty which is the basis of a significant and flourishing tourist economy and will place significant burdens on local services, housing and disrupt the local economy. • The area may lose up to £24m per year from the Tourism/Visitor economy as a result of visitors being deterred. • Added pressure on local housing especially in private-rental sector. • It is understood that EDF expects to import most of the supply chain and workforce from Hinkley Point whilst most of the ‘local’ people to be employed are expected to fill the lower-skilled/paid jobs in “Site Support”. • Concerns over the influx of 3,000 workers living in the accommodation campus and caravan site. With this there will be considerable additional pressure on health, social and emergency services - in particular policing. 2. Transport/Traffic • The road based transport plan is not sustainable; enormous and adverse impact on local communities – in particular for Westleton as the village is located roughly 7 miles by road north of Sizewell and workers at the current site already use the B1125 as a “rat-run/shortcut” rather than use the longer A12/B1122 route. As a result, this route already suffers from road safety concerns with excessive vehicle speeding which coincides with peak times shift changeovers from Sizewell A and B. • With projected increases in traffic to and from the Sizewell C site in the early years of construction, it is feared that the situation will only get worse and the village centre will also suffer from increased congestion and consequent pollution. • We believe that viable alternative relief road routes [with more of a long term legacy value] are not being adequately assessed by EDF. 3. Environment and Landscape • Development would result in pollution from light, noise and traffic • Irreparable harm to AONB - Minsmere is a flagship destination of international importance and significance and borders nearby Sites of Scientific Interest. • Catastrophic impact on landscape character because of locality, design and scale; construction severs the AONB • Impossible to compensate for landscape and ecological damage • Won’t offset CO2 from construction for at least 6 years. 4. Application • Wording of Explanatory Memorandum and Planning Statement. In submitting the above comments we would also wish to endorse the Relevant Representation submitted by Stop Sizewell C group. Westleton Parish Council also reserves the right to submit a more fuller additional Supporting Statement at the Examination in order enlarge upon the representations which have been made here in summary/bullet points. We also wish to state that we consider the Sizewell C application to be totally unsuitable for a digital examination process.