Representation by Terence Cross (Terence Cross)
- Date submitted
- 15 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I fully reject the Sunnica scheme for: Impact on our daily lives Piecemealed throughout 7 villages and affecting 16 parishes will create a cumulative negative affect on our communities with an inefficient design that maximises the impact on the greatest number of people. • 35 miles of perimeter fencing and intrusive security systems that will affect our landscape views, spaces, light and sound over 2500 acres /11 sq Km • Community connectivity will be severed by industrialisation of open countryside and destruction of traditional agricultural landscape between settlements. • Road closures, Increased traffic creating longer, more fuel intensive journeys • High volume of HGV traffic particularly at school times including on narrow lanes many without footpaths • Affect open access to walks and tracks, including the Icknield way from Snailwell into Newmarket, re-routing, closing parts or denigrating areas permanently. • Footpaths will become tunnels between 2m high deer fencing and high voltage security measures Cultural, Landscape and property • We have chosen to live here investing time in family and community • We protect and preserve wildlife and fauna inc. Stone Curlew, Barn Owl, Cambridge Milk Parsley etc Mitigation is NOT preservation • We raise funds and maintain the Grade 1 listed buildings in our midst, the Sunnica construction period alone will damage and undo years of human & financial investment • The scheme proposes to use best value productive agricultural land when food security is a priority. It is unrealistic that it will ever be returned to agriculture Safety and Health concerns • BESS pose new and unique threats to communities, first responders and wildlife. • The siting of hundreds of Lithium-ion BESS containers is far too close to property, schools and small businesses • Plume modelling suggests my village is in risk from two of the battery sites. We will be affected from ‘known risk’ of toxic gas (hydrogen fluoride) • We will be Subjected to poor air quality throughout construction and electrical noise disturbance once commissioned • Magnetic fields through cabling /electrical connectors at scale spread through the area • Heat islands from the largest solar expanse in the UK - no past evidence of mitigating this at scale or documented impact • Effects on mental health; restricting lack of open countryside, intense continual construction noise 6 days a week, demoralisation caused by catastrophic life and environment change inflicted upon us at scale The Scheme • No evidence of the zero-carbon efficiency of the scheme and no adequate carbon impact assessment • There is no fullproof plan to assure that decommissioning is funded from the outset indeed the fields may be full of degraded old technology in just 15-years’ time • The area already supports renewables with 450MGW of appropriately sited renewable energy currently or approved to operate within 15 miles. • Sunnica claims of output are highly inefficient producing less than one seventh of the rated power of 500MGw • The storage facility (BESS) will trade power from The Grid from all sources including fossil fuels. not generated by the nearby solar at all • There is no proof of any intention of ethical sourcing; Solar PV and batteries likely from China are well documented as perpetuating slave labour I wish to be kept informed of the planning progress [Redacted]