Representation by Denis Field
- Date submitted
- 14 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to this proposed scheme because:- Size and scale. Sprawling layout covering 2500acres of rural agricultural land surrounding five villages. This is industrialisation of the landscape. Cumulative impact. Already many Solar/BESS farms within a five-mile radius. Sunnica still refuse to provide details of the BESS’s and panels to be used, deliberately withholding information for two years. Risks of battery storage and failure. Current safety legislation regarding BESS’s are insufficient for such large-scale installations, posing a risk to residents from toxic fumes that are released in the event of a fire. Sunnica have repeatedly refused to state that the BESS’s are safe. BESS fire water. Sunnic propose that ‘lagoons’ will be constructed to store water for fire suppression, no provision has been made to prevent contaminated water draining into the aquifer. Drinking water for Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and London is sourced from this aquifer. Water course pollution will also cause harm to wildlife. Loss of productive farmland. Effect on food security has not been considered. The local farming production and heritage will be destroyed, changing centuries old farming community into an industrial zone. Unknown effect on buried archaeology, many important historical finds have been made in this area. Scheme not viable without unwelcome Compulsory Purchases & leases. There will be noise and dust pollution both during construction and sound disturbance from the equipment during the 40-year lifespan. Detrimental visual appearance, loss of historic landscape, wildlife, views and heritage. Sunnica state that the proposed ‘infill’ screening will not ‘hide’ the scheme for at least 15 years, compounding the loss of landscape. No community benefits. Sunnica have stated that only 27 jobs will be created to operate the scheme once constructed. Traffic and disruption during the two plus year of construction, presenting safety issues for residents. Most of the already busy affected villages have narrow streets & lanes, limited pavements and no pedestrian crossing points. Sunnica predict 1682 staff vehicle journeys and 202 HGV journeys daily, for six days a week. Construction requires the closure of roads, the introduction of traffic lights, road layout changes and Public Rights of Way closures. Some PRoW will be re-routed permanently adding to the loss of amenity and access to the countryside. Lack of a proper decommissioning bond. Sunnica are yet to provide any reassurance the area will be fully decommissioned. They state this will be taken care of towards the end of the scheme lifespan. Sunnica have not proven that the scheme is carbon neutral. They have not considered all of the carbon factors. Is there a need for the development? The 77acres of BESS’s vs the panel generation capacity, demonstrates that the scheme is designed for energy trading (profit), not generation. The Statutory Consultation was totally inadequate, run via ‘Webinars’ which many people did not have the technical ability or appropriate technology to join. Those who could, did not get their questions answered adequately and, in many cases, not responded to at all. i.e. Worlington Parish Council has not received any answers from Sunnica.