Representation by Virginia Sones
- Date submitted
- 27 January 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I fully support the points made by SASES and Friston Parish Council. I am in favour of renewable energy and offshore wind farms but not the destruction of the countryside resulting from a lack of strategic thinking and planning. My partner and I are frequent visitors to Suffolk. What is special about this county is that it is peaceful and unspoilt. There is very little urbanisation and the coastal areas in particular remain natural and unique, attracting wonderful and often rare wildlife, flora and fauna. What we particularly enjoy is the local sense of community, the commitment to local produce and provenance and the gentle and quiet way of life. Sadly it is very difficult to find this sort of experience in our increasingly busy and over developed country. What a shame a haven of tranquility, heritage and beautiful coast and countryside has to be spoiled by greedy energy businesses, appalling planning and seemingly ignorant and uncaring politicians. We know this threatened area of the Suffolk East Coast very well, and have stayed in Friston many times. It is a pretty, quiet village with a very strong sense of community. The village hosts regular events including Boot Sales, Classics on the Green and Open Gardens. These are important events for local communities in the area, but also attract people from all over the County and much further afield. Apart from this Friston offers lovely walks, access to other local attractions, wonderful dark skies and abundant wildlife, in particular nesting grounds for Lapwing, Skylarks and Barn Owls to name a few. To build three sub-stations right next to this small village would be an unforgiving assault on an innocent community and surely be the demise of a piece of English heritage. It is impossible for a normal person to trawl through the thousands of pages of planning documentation produced by SPR – no wonder so many ‘small’ people are bulldozed by large organisations. From what I have learned from the information available in the public domain and from discussion with different sources, I think the main issues that need to be investigated and addressed: 1. Impact on local economy – traffic disruption, noise, loss of jobs 2. Impact on local ecology – wildlife, birds, fragile coastline 3. Impact on health and quality of life for Friston residents – noise, flooding From what I can gather this area of Suffolk will gain nothing from these projects, I certainly don’t believe there will be any local jobs. No amount of mitigation can make up for the permanent damage and devastation these projects (and others planned?) will cause for this area. Surely ther must be a brownfield site that can be utilized or at least a long-term strategy from the government that can ensure the least damage is done.