Representation by The Alde and Ore Association (The Alde and Ore Association)
- Date submitted
- 28 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The Alde and Ore Association is a charity, with some 2000 members, which aims to preserve and protect the Alde and Ore Estuary for the benefit of the public to enjoy. Summary: Concern that the long term the existence of Sizewell C will interrupt natural coastal processes damaging to the coast further south, including off Aldeburgh and the long natural Orfordness shingle spit protecting the Estuary. Detail: 1. No thinking on impact on the Suffolk coastal processes: There is nothing in the Environmental Appraisal, despite requests in earlier consultations, justifying the assertion that the Great Sizewell Bay is a self-contained unit and changes there will have no impact on the longshore coastal evolution which has resulting in the uniquely long shingle spit of Orfordness, which itself created the Alde and Ore Estuary. Such longshore processes will not suddenly cease: a local manmade change at Sizewell could well change these natural processes further to the south. Properly scoped research is needed to explain why and how that long changing coastline will be unaffected by a large protuberance into the bay lasting well beyond 2100. 2. Incomplete construction plans prevent proper assessment: Proper evaluation is not possible, even at this late stage: the construction plans for the new plant and how they might relate to the shoreline over time are still incomplete. How can incomplete construction plans be approved? 3. Latest climate change data: The assessments in the application are not based on the latest scientific material available on climate change and sea level rise. It uses the UK CCRA report with 2018 estimates, not those of the IPPC in 2019: the developers must be aware that latest information shows that the impact of these factors would be far greater than previously thought. 4. Need for properly framed and funded monitoring and mitigation plan: Should the development go ahead, there needs to be a fully planned monitoring and mitigation plan, with funding for at least 150 years. Further, the documents proposes that monitoring ceases before the power station ceases functioning. This cannot be acceptable as very large and solid construction is to be left in place indefinitely. The coast line needs long term monitoring to the north and south, at least as far a Shingle Street. Funding should be provided for research and/ or mitigation, for example mitigation works to renew shingle off Aldeburgh and the spit could cost anything up to over £20 million or more to replace lost flow of material south, resulting from the proposed shingle recycling within the Bay or the impact of the power station protrusion on longshore drift. The consequences of a change in coastal erosion leading to rapid changes off Aldeburgh and southwards could have a very damaging impact on the local economy, including the life of the Alde and Ore Estuary, worth over £100 million annually. 5. Clearly from the above alone, the Sizewell C application is totally unsuitable for a digital examination process.