Representation by Mary Potsig
- Date submitted
- 22 January 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am a regular visitor to the Suffolk coast and a keen supporter of renewable energy, but the plans for this wind farm seem to negate any environmental benefits through the destruction of the AONB and surrounding countryside on the coast line. Specifically: The harm which will come to the plant and animal habitats in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB as a result of the infrastructure and construction processes. This is land which is supposed to be protected because of its ecological significance and of global significance. It’s damage and destruction could result in the loss of rare species and ecosystems The fragility of the coastline which is already being changed irreparably by climate change and human activity. Many habitats will be destroyed. The laying of the cable alone will damage an area 65m wife along its path through the AONB which is unacceptable The unsuitability of the present infrastructure and impact the construction will have on local roads and traffic, for example: Extra weight of significant amount of HGV traffic through popular tourist destinations such as Thorpness village, Aldeburgh and villages along the path of the single carriageway A12. This will be highly disruptive to local people and deter visitors. Some parts of the route are simply unsuitable for HGV traffic, especially in the volumes needed for this work (for example there are tight roundabouts in Leiston and around Aldeburgh) The amount of construction traffic will result in a huge increase in air pollution for the local population along the route. The disruption on unsuitable B roads and single carriageway A roads is rendered even more unnecessary by the fact there are already two fully functioning ports close by (Felixstowe to the north and Harwich to the south) which have the necessary infrastructure built to reach them and would be idea departure points for any of the wind farm components as they are taken to the offshore site. Construction of a substation in the village of Friston (which in itself is very close to the AONB) will damage the village, deter visitors and overshadow the village itself. The plans to construct a project of this scale in and next to an AONB contravenes the National Policy Planning Framework’s guidelines on AONBs: ‘115. Great weight should be given to conserving landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which have the highest status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty. 116. Planning permission should be refused for major developments in these designated areas except in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated they are in the public interest. Consideration of such applications should include an assessment of: • the need for the development, including in terms of any national considerations, and the impact of permitting it, or refusing it, upon the local economy; • the cost of, and scope for, developing elsewhere outside the designated area, or meeting the need for it in some other way; and • any detrimental effect on the environment, the landscape and recreational opportunities, and the extent to which that could be moderated It is clear that we need to be constructing more renewables including wind power, but the proposed location of this substation and the routes which will be needed during construction are ill conceived and the environmental and human costs outweigh the environmental benefits. Other routes and locations could have been considered which would be much less disruptive. I believe that the government should halt these plans and look at them as part of its overall policy for increasing renewables, where a strategy which balances the environmental impact of construction with the energy produced once projects are completed.