Representation by GreenSnape (GreenSnape )
- Date submitted
- 30 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
GreenSnape is an environmental community group with over 100 members. We believe this application poses a significant threat to the environment and rural way of life of Snape village and the wider East Suffolk community. We share the many concerns raised by organisations including the RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, and the AONB. We also endorse the Relevant Representations made by Stop Sizewell C. At a time when the UK has been named one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, we believe this massive infrastructure project would damage irrevocably one of England’s most diverse habitats for wildlife. In particular: 1. 10 hectares of nationally important fen habitat within Sizewell Belts Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) would be concreted over for a four lane access road. Mature woodland which supports crossbills, badger setts, rare white admiral butterflies and nationally important bat populations – particularly the barbastelle - would be destroyed. 2. An area of Sizewell beach would be destroyed by enormous pipes for cooling the reactor. This fragile habitat which includes vegetated shingle, one of the rarest environments in the world, would be lost. 3. Levels of noise and lighting during construction would displace many rare breeding and migrant birds within the SSSI and Minsmere Levels. Changes in water levels in Minsmere’s ditches would impact on rare wetland wildlife - bitterns, marsh harriers, water voles, otters, ducks and wading birds. 4. EDF’s road-based transport plan is not suitable for our rural roads. New roads would fragment wildlife habitats, narrow country roads would become gridlocked, and quiet lanes used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders would become dangerous rat runs. Snape village itself would come to a standstill when LGVs and cars headed for Sizewell C avoiding the A12 converged with all the construction traffic travelling along the A1094 to the Friston energy projects site. The additional traffic on Church Road would also pose a health threat to the children of Snape Primary School. 5. EDF have failed to properly assess the cumulative impact of SZC with the 8 other energy projects proposed for this part of East Suffolk. The development of all these projects in isolation has left local communities, whose very real concerns have largely been ignored, fearful for the future. The industrialisation of the Suffolk coast on this unprecedented scale would be life changing for our rural communities, and for the environment which we have a moral responsibility to protect for future generations. 6. We have a climate emergency right now. SZC would not be up and running until 2035 at the earliest (no nuclear project has ever been on time or on budget) and would take another 6 years to offset the CO2 from construction. At £20 billion and rising SZC is too expensive and too late.