Representation by Angela Mallinson
- Date submitted
- 12 January 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I have been coming to Aldeburgh for 40 years initially drawn by the music of Benjamin Britten, the wild seas, beautiful skies and the Aldeburgh Festival. I now live here 30% of the time and am a Trustee of the Britten-Pears Foundation. I support the representations made by SASES and Friston Parish Council as there are a number of issues that concern me greatly. Firstly, the impact on tourism, heritage and the local economy: we are incredibly fortunate in this part of East Suffolk to have a wealth of cultural and leisure activities on our doorstep. This draws large numbers of people to the area bringing income of over £670 million a year and is responsible for nearly 15% of all employment. The DMO report has not been adequately addressed by SPR but SPRs large-scale construction plans, close to an AONB, which will bring an increase in traffic, noise and light pollution, make access and local transportation more difficult and unpleasant, will have a detrimental effect on the area’s ability to attract visitors. Jobs will be lost and the local economy damaged, whilst onshore development brings no significant new employment to local people. Those of us that have been visiting for many years remember how shops would struggle in the quiet winter months and frequently disappear before the following summer. Preserving our cultural, leisure and heritage assets brings visitors and visitors bring jobs. We need to protect this. Secondly, whilst I support the government’s policy of creating new sources of green energy, I am concerned by the lack of an overall clear national strategy that defines how and where new energy projects should be delivered. The cumulative impact of six major energy projects being constructed in a small area of coastal Suffolk which carves up the countryside (not brownfield), damages the local wildlife and ecology suggests a confused and inconsistent policy. What kind of a National Energy and Climate Plan increases renewable energy by relying so on fossil fuels to construct and deliver it? The British public is not so naïve as to not see the inconsistency in such a policy. There is an ageing and vulnerable population in and around Aldeburgh which is currently extremely well served by the local facilities – health, wellbeing and leisure. In a country with an ageing population we need more communities like this and we should value and protect it.