Representation by Neil Poole
- Date submitted
- 30 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Dear Sir / Madam The Sizewell C Project: Planning Inspectorate Reference EN010012 As a Suffolk resident for most of my 65 years, a lover of the Suffolk coast and its wildlife, an RSPB and Suffolk Wildlife Trust member, a climate-change activist and as an individual committed to treading lightly in all aspects of our existence on this fragile planet, I am passionately opposed to the application. I urge you not to support it, for the following reasons: The site is fundamentally unsuited for the proposed use. It lies in an area of unique landscape and wildlife value, adjacent to the world-famous RSPB Minsmere Reserve and wider precious parts of the AONB. The site would require continuing protection from sea level rises and coastal erosion. The construction programme would cause massive and irreversible damage to the sensitive local terrestrial and marine ecology, in the immediate vicinity of the application site but also much further afield, in local villages and along transport routes serving the site. Local communities would be severed and there would be significant increases in noise, light pollution and general disruption. Suffolk County Council was an early in-principle supporter of the project and yet, even after numerous attempts by them to encourage EDF to address their very real concerns, EDF has failed to convince them that their proposals are acceptable. The government’s own experts, the National Infrastructure Commission’s latest report, which put the case for a more rapid rollout of renewables, on grounds of cost and meeting emissions targets, has increased its assessment of the contribution which renewables can make. In the last two years the NIC has adjusted its 2018 estimate of 40-50% by 2030 to this year’s estimate of 65% with “no material cost impact”. The NIC reports that renewables “are now the cheapest form of electricity generation due to dramatic cost reductions in recent years”. As the contribution from wind and solar energy increases, rapid developments in battery and other forms of storage provide the solution to the maintenance of the supply of power when the wind stops blowing and the sun goes down. In this context, Hitachi’s unsurprising recent withdrawal from the Wylfa project should not be allowed to increase the pressure for Sizewell C. Rather, it should be seen as a clear sign that the case can no longer be made for mega-scale nuclear power plants. Finally, it is unreasonable to proceed with the consultation during the current coronavirus restrictions which severely limit the extent to which the democratic involvement of all interested parties can be fairly represented. The Sizewell C application is totally unsuited to examination on a digital basis. For all the above reasons, I urge you to accept that the case for Sizewell C has not been made. It should be abandoned now. Yours faithfully Neil Poole RIBA [Redacted]