Representation by Jane Mason
- Date submitted
- 30 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I do not believe that this development should go ahead. This is because of: 1. Direct damage to an area with the highest level of designated protection (SSSI). Sizewell Marshes SSSI supports rare plants, invertebrates and other wildlife, and mitigation is impossible - rich communities of wildlife and the habitats which support them take many years to develop. Aldhurst Farm mitigation site, as a recent creation, will not have the ecological complexity to sustain them. 2. Severe damage to the hydrology of Sizewell Marshes SSSI, with vast amounts of fresh water being demanded by the reactors resulting in de-watering and a negative impact on rare and protected plant and animal communities. 3. Negative impact of de-watering on agriculture, which in this area often struggles with insufficient rainfall. 4. Negative impact on the adjacent Minsmere RSPB Reserve – also a highly protected area under national designation – through disturbance, noise and air pollution and altered hydrology. 5. Contradiction of national policy on protecting and increasing biodiversity - there is now a national commitment to increasing the biodiversity we have lost over the past decades and yet legally protected wildlife will be disturbed and destroyed. Rare shingle and marsh flora, the hibernation site of Natterjack toads, Barbastelle bats – all are examples of plants and animals which will have their habitat destroyed or fragmented or be disturbed by increased levels of noise and light. There can be no net gain for biodiversity at this site, due to the extraordinary richness of its existing biodiversity. 6. Destruction of enormous numbers of marine animals from the cooling system in the legally protected Outer Thames Estuary SPA. This cannot be legal. 7. Damage to the landscape character of this unique Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, renowned for its tranquillity, by such huge scale construction and development – creeping urbanisation will result. 8. Negative impact on the physical health of local people caused by air pollution from vehicle emissions, dust from the on-site development, access roads and associated infrastructure. 9. Negative impact on the mental health of local people, resulting in stress and increasing rates of depression – for example, the quality of my life would be severely damaged by the noise and visual pollution and my awareness of the damage being done to wildlife and the environment. 10. Destruction of small businesses depending on rural tourism, and the livelihoods depending on these businesses, as people stay away from what has become a giant building site. 11. Negative impact on the communities of Leiston, Theberton, Eastbridge and surrounding areas caused by the heavy traffic, building site, road construction and influx of large numbers of male workers looking for entertainment. The construction of Sizewell C will result in permanent damage to the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Sizewell is a wholly unsuitable location on which to build a reactor and to store nuclear waste.