Representation by Storrington & Sullington Parish Council (Storrington & Sullington Parish Council)
- Date submitted
- 10 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Members fully support the Government's target to reduce CO2 emissions to zero and believe this should be undertaken as soon as possible. To that end, Members are also fully supportive of the investment in wind power and the building of wind farms including at sea. However, despite this, there are still questions which Rampion 2 consultations have failed to address. Maps provided by Rampion 2 are lacking in detail and do not adequately demonstrate the purpose of all access points. In particular, the issue of the precise usage of the access points along the A283 has been raised multiple times now but we are still awaiting an answer. Regarding traffic, Storrington is an incredibly busy village whose air quality is known to be suboptimal, resulting in the Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). Rampion 2 will result in an increase in traffic that may well be occurring concurrently with the permitted 60 bed care home on the site of Old Clayton, the permitted planning application of Care South’s Sussexdown care home, and the pending application of the Rock Common Quarry, alongside the plans for the Washington compound to serve as the hub of operations in this area. There have been no assurances that construction/maintenance traffic will not go through the AQMA. Strict routing conditions need to be applied that prohibit traffic from entering the AQMA, but these also need to be enforced. Existing prohibitions regarding surrounding quarries are routinely breached and with the rise in traffic that can be reliably predicted this situation is unacceptable. There has also been little information to show where and why the routes were changed in the supporting documentation, which has been unhelpful in following the progression of the application and understanding how appropriate conclusions as to a prescribed route are being drawn. Previous consultations are not felt to have truly taken local concerns on board. With a shared Neighbourhood Plan with Washington Parish Council, Storrington and Sullington Parish Council are also strongly supportive of their legitimate concerns, one of which is why a route around Washington, rather than through the village and across the recreation ground, was rejected with no clear or logical explanation. It would appear illogical to enter a further consultation period when there are still questions outstanding that could have been addressed by now. Without informative data, the meaningfulness of this consultation is in doubt.