Representation by Deborah Bragg
- Date submitted
- 16 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Relevant Representation These are my main areas of concern over Sizewell C and why I believe it is the wrong project for this site: Wrong Location • The project is too big for the setting and land available • The impact on a Heritage Coast, the landscape and wildlife will be devastating and irreversible. • Irreparable damage to Minsmere, catastrophic for bio diverse habitats. This is at a time when the latest UN edict urges us to protect habitat – not destroy it. Road-based Transport Plan • EDF estimates 700+ extra vehicles a day on a rural B road (B1122) in addition to the existing traffic, causing concerns and delays not only for residents but also for emergency workers and delivery drivers • Inevitably such heavy traffic would cause an increase in noise and pollution and this is at a time when the causal association between pollution and poor physical and mental health is well documented. In addition damage to listed buildings along the route is likely and EDF’s admission that there “may be an effect” is unacceptable EDF’s proposed road alternative would divide farmland and communities Damage to Tourism • In an area dependent on tourism it is estimated that the local industry would lose £40m a year as tourists are driven away by the disruption and traffic jams. In addition there would be the likely loss of 400+ permanent jobs – as opposed to EDF’s claims of 7,900 temporary jobs, mostly from outside the county. Water • The build will need 3 million litres of potable water a day at peak but EDF has not made clear where this will come from • Suffolk is the driest county in the UK – not only will EDF be taking valuable water from local and farming supplies but their influx of 7,900 construction workers will also place demands on the system Cost • When first proposed the cost was £6 billion; the estimate is now £20 billion. EDF can only pay for it with a tax on all electricity bills Design & Partner Issues • Sizewell C will have two trouble-prone EPRs. The French one is 11 years late while in Finland another unfinished project has design faults. Hinkley Point started eight years late and will not be operational until 2025 – at the earliest • Chinese involvement is concerning and controversial The Future • There is growing evidence that such large-scale nuclear projects are too expensive and too slow to solve the climate crisis. And the claim that nuclear power is carbon neutral is questionable – when the huge increase in CO2 emissions during construction is taken into account, it could take 20 years to contribute to net zero • Sizewell C could be obsolete by the time it is built … which means a county famous for its wildlife and tranquillity will have been needlessly destroyed forever. I wish to endorse the Relevant Representation submitted by Stop Sizewell C . Further, I wish to state that I consider the Sizewell C application to be totally unsuitable for a digital examination process.