Representation by Katrina Young
- Date submitted
- 29 August 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I would like to start with the obvious which is the previous disaster that has affected the village, Nypro, that disaster is more than any community should have to have dealt with, Nypro was enough and difficult times during and after, the residents are unanimous in asking that Flixborough should be left as it, a peaceful rural community, with a tragic past. Flixborough is the wrong place for this site, it is on agricultural land, green field sites and on a flood plain. Currently a small, quiet, peaceful, rural community and the potential size of the proposed Energy Park would take away so much land that surrounds this village as well as causing visual/air/noise/light pollution. The grey proposed future development area is far too close to homes/Flixborough village.Industry is already encroaching on the village from all directions. If the Energy Park goes ahead the whole village would be surrounded. Alternate Industrial sites are currently available with good infrastructure e.g. Killingholme/Immingham so why Flixborough rather than other sites/development areas? The flood risk is high within the lifetime of the project and I ask how ‘building on a flood plain’ is a good investment when it has been said it will flood within the next 30 years and the low lying land unsalvageable within 50 years.The Environmental Impact - on the surrounding land what about the protection of the woodlands, green fields, wildlife, bridle ways, public footpaths and walkways. Not to mention all the valuable eco systems and habitats that will be destroyed should this go ahead. Also, the River Trent and the River Humber are sites of special interest and conservation areas, what happens when there are any waste spillages including plastics which has been highlighted on the news recently for how damaging this in both in water and on land for wildlife.Another huge concern is about the waste firstly the storage of this, being stored correctly otherwise this would introduce smells, vermin, risks as mentioned above to animals and children, fire risk and also when the spillages occur who is responsible for this and how often will this be cleared away. With regards to the Rail/River transportation are the carriages going to be open? Therefore, it is inevitable for waste to spill and waste to smell and how will this work when transferring the waste from both Rail and Ship again controlling the smell and spillages. Previously on the exact same site there was a Council Composting Plant which processed compost and gave off a nasty odour in the surrounding area and after years of complaints about the odour omitted, it was finally relocated only to now have a proposed site that has the potential of omitting far worse odours than the small composting site. There is already a massive concern in nearby villages (Roxby/Winterton) who are suffering horrendous odours from the landfill site which is actually located further away from those villages than this Energy Park would be to Flixborough and surrounding villages. Concerns over where the waste is coming from and indeed what type of waste, also you confirmed this would be a 24 hr operation this means extra noise day and night especially as the ships follow the tide, noise from the railway which passes extremely close to the village and increased road traffic noise.Traffic is a big concern also for all villagers, the number of vehicles coming through the village (from the north/east of the village) day and night be it workers or trucks for delivery etc would increase the traffic tremendously, we also have a weak bridge has that been taken into consideration? No doubt (new road or no new road) connecting to the A1077 will cause queues in all directions off and onto the Orbital Rd, if the glasshouses go ahead that will also increase additional traffic build up on the smaller road that joins the A1077.Light and Noise Pollution – with a 24 hr Operation in mind the Increase of light and noise pollution is inevitable causing an irreversible impact on the local environment / wildlife and surrounding area.Winds – the village of Flixborough is 50m above sea level and has prevailing Westerly winds. The planned footprint for the Energy Park would mean that any odours from the waste from shipping, rail, road would impact Flixborough directly, with Easterly winds would impact Amcotts, and South Westerly winds would impact Burton Upon Stather and Normanby where the popular local country park is located and encouraging visitors from all around the UK to visit.With a chimney the size yet to be decided but suggested in the final webinar a guess of 85 metres this would have a dramatic impact on the village and also how would this work in conjunction with the village being elevated and also several wind turbines in the field opposite standing at 126 metres? Is this not going to cause issues with regards to emissions and pollutants?Pollutants and Emissions – With the chimney proposed to be 85m high possibly, the village being elevated at 50m above sea level the villagers would need 100% guarantee that no harmful pollutants will enter the atmosphere and ultimately end up passing through our villages, analysis shows that fine particles from incinerators can spread over a distance of 10km. Incinerators can release tonnes of carbon dioxide gas (what will happen to the CO2 produced and captured if the greenhouses never get built?). Other pollutants released from Incinerators include mercury, hydrochloric acid, dioxins, oxides of nitrogen, cadmium and lead, what guarantees do you have for the residents of the village that we will be completely safe and that there is no health risk to us if the Energy Park is approved.If the project does go ahead what will be on offer to the residents of Flixborough? Compensation for the plummeting house prices? Reduced Energy Bills? What about the loss of public walkways/bridle ways? Rural Views/Landscape marred by even more Industry. Lack of public footpaths in the area means the village without the walks available would be a very isolated place, there would be lots of challenges in the village, an investment would be much needed in the local community. Traffic calming measures would be essential, safe foot paths out of the village including onto Normanby Rd, Cycle Lanes and improved roads as traffic would impact massively.In closing – Locally, it has been felt that the consultations have been very poorly thought through as most of the residents are elderly and many don’t have access to the Internet and it is vital and their right to have their say. The village is in direct proximity of the site and has a disproportionate amount of residents that are in an age range or demographic which did not have consistent access to a web based consultation and did not had the opportunity to have their views directly considered as would normally happen in a face to face meeting/consultation. The method of consultation undertaken is not inclusive to the whole community, the consultation was released during a global pandemic which means other priorities are apparent.