Representation by Mark Renny
- Date submitted
- 27 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
DCO for application of the Rampion2 Offshore Wind Farm. Representation by Mark Renny, Director of Brookside Holiday Camp Limited, Lyminster Road, Lyminster, Littlehampton, West Sussex. BN17 7QE I am writing to you with our ongoing specific concerns regarding the Rampion Extension that has proposed a temporary access road; pipeline or combination of both on the field directly North of our property at Brookside Holiday Camp Limited, BN17 7QE. We had a consultation meeting with RWE and Carter Jonas at Littlehampton in July 2021. Subsequent plans were made for consultation showing a pipeline through the middle of the field to the North of the park which (to my eyes) were preferable to the access road and the latest plans show a sort of combination of both previous ones; I have also had a meeting with Nigel Abbott today where those multi-layered plans have been described as to give the project “Optionality” (27th October 2023). I would like to make ongoing feedback as below :- - We are a long-established (since the 1930s and under our family ownership since 1962) family holiday caravan park; we own purely the one site which extends over 8.25 acres and comprises of 120 static holiday caravans and one holiday bungalow. Some of our owners have been with us since shortly after the date we took over and all are extremely valued (as we are to them as their choice of location for their holiday home from home). Whilst we are in favour of the new project in principle, and wind-power as a sustainable power for the future in the quest to become carbon neutral by 2030 (now 2050 I understand), we believe that the location for the proposed access road is entirely unsuitable for the following reasons :- - 25 holiday caravans back onto the field and one holiday bungalow. The boundary is a hedge and a ditch. The construction of the caravans is of thin metal and the proposed proximity and noise would be extremely detrimental to our holidaymakers enjoyment of their ‘special place’. Lots of our owners come from London and the surrounding areas and live in flats; their caravan is their ‘garden’, their space away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and I am told that their mental health benefits from being them being here, and stress levels as a result are much lower. Our holiday bungalow is rented out on a weekly basis at a not inconsiderable cost, and I cannot see many people making bookings if a busy access road is constructed only yards away from the rear garden. We have read that legal operational times of these types of road are 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on a Saturday – this would be totally disruptive to caravan owners and holidaymakers and possibly negate any reason that they have to actually have a holiday caravan here (there is not a lot of holiday accommodation in the local Arundel/Littlehampton area of this type either!). Many owners might decide to sell up if the proposed road were to go ahead. This could prove financially disastrous for us, especially following 16 months of COVID-19 restrictions already impacting our sales and bookings. - We are concerned about the noise every time anything goes over the proposed access road and the dust pollution that it would cause. Your document, Rampion 2 Volume 2, Chapter 22 (22.9.43) states that predicted noise levels would be 85dB at the nearest points (our level appears to be amongst the highest indicating our proximity, and putting predicted noise levels on a par with a diesel truck at 40mph at 50ft(84dB). Mr. Nigel Abbott of Carter Jonas has said today (27th October 2023) at a meeting with myself, that he would recommend that works to the field North of us would be preferred to take place during the Winter months i.e. October to the end of March in order that disruption and noise etc to our caravan owners would be kept to a minimum. He has also said that noise reduction or bunding measures would still be something that could be used by Rampion2 to mitigate noise and dust and that the timescale of that particular part of the project should be achievable in a six month timeframe. - Nevertheless, we are concerned about the potential weight of vehicles that would use the proposed access road bearing in mind that the bungalow at Brookside has been underpinned several times (it’s latest remedial work was completed in June 2021) and is prone to cracking; static caravan bases are not especially thick. We estimate an excavator to weigh 30 Tonnes and a low-loader to weigh 15 Tonnes so there is the potential for 45 Tonne weights going up the access road and causing structural damage to both caravan bases and the bungalow. - According to the plan at present, the proposed access road would be very close to our hedge and thus to certain caravan owners bedroom windows (many of which open out onto the field North of us which has no public access along the edge of the field but rather diagonally though South East to North West at present; this could potentially cause privacy issues in the most intimate of settings and also potential security issues with unknown persons using the access road right by privately owned caravans. - The fire/drainage ditch between Brookside and the field North of us would also be vulnerable to collapse due to soil vibration. - We believe that the access from the public road (A284) at the proposed location is too narrow for lorries to turn (or reverse) into (your spokesperson at the 2021 meeting, Eleri Wilce, mentioned that the proposed plans were initially scoped by Google Maps/Earth as site visits were not viable during the COVID-19 lockdown but following our concerns, a site visit was something that she would definitely plan to ascertain why we think it is totally unsuitable to put an access road in the proposed location). - We still believe that a more suitable location for an access road could be found further North towards Arundel. However, if the field to the North of us was to be used, then there is a more suitable location for an access road at the far North side of the field where residential house owners have long gardens providing better distance and screening with regard to noise pollution (apart from Lullynge Cottage at the front) and, of course, bricks and mortar sound proofing. Again, Mr. Abbott today suggested that the entrance to the field might be made more centrally or to the Northern part of the field rather than the Southern part where there is currently a stile and farm gate. - We are also concerned about disturbance to the local wildlife which includes water voles in the reed bed and ditch between the park and the field North of us; disruption of habitat which is normally soft, undisturbed earth which they can burrow into easily amongst tall grasses and reed beds. - We already see the A284 as an extremely busy road at certain times of the day, with vehicle queuing, especially when the level crossing at Wick (Lyminster crossing) gates are down (often during the day and even more so with the level of road and housing construction in the area and for the foreseeable future) causes huge tailbacks to the North well past our entrance. This proposed access road could seriously impact on an already overloaded stretch of road. - Originally, we were told that the proposed access road would be temporary but don’t know the predicted timeframe for an access road being constructed or being in place (we were later told that it would take about six months to construct? In a consultation at Littlehampton in 2022 at the Town Hall Chamber, Mr. Abbott said that an access road would be kept after the project was completed and would possibly used once a month or so for a Jeep or 4x4 to go down to the plant area by the Arun to check on operations etc. He also said at this point that an access road would prevent any future potential development in the field (i.e. farmers building houses) from being built too close to our boundary. Lots of discussive ‘ifs and buts’ but obviously not his purview beyond the scope of this project. I look forward to hearing back from you following the DCO application representation period, and if you need to get in touch, our office can be contacted [REDACTED]. Yours sincerely, Mark Renny, Director – Brookside Holiday Camp Limited. [REDACTED]