Representation by East Riding of Yorkshire Council (East Riding of Yorkshire Council)
- Date submitted
- 13 January 2023
- Submitted by
- Local authorities
I write in connection with the Drax Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage Project (“the Scheme”), on behalf of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (“the Council”) in its capacity as a landowner potentially affected by the Scheme. For the avoidance of doubt, the comments set out below are not made in any of the Council’s other statutory capacities, i.e. as a Local Planning Authority or as a Highway Authority. It is understood that under the original application for a DCO submitted by Drax last year, the Council was not envisaged to be affected as a landowner. However, the applicant’s subsequent consultation with statutory undertakers in connection with the Scheme revealed logistical difficulties concerning overhead power and telecommunications lines. It is the statutory undertaker, Northern Powergrid’s, stated preference that those overhead lines be undergrounded, necessitating a change to the submitted DCO, which the applicant communicated to the Examining Authority in correspondence dated 12 September 2022. If the proposed change to the DCO proceeds, then the Council will become a landowner affected by the scheme, as some of the overhead lines identified for undergrounding are situated on Council-owned land. While the Council may not fundamentally object to the principle of the Scheme, the aims of which may align with wider East Riding of Yorkshire Council objectives and priorities, the lack of additional information regarding the proposed change to the DCO means that the Council must now object to this proposal for the following reasons. 1. Cable Route and Depth No information has been provided by the applicant as to the proposed route that the cables will take once undergrounded, or of the depth at which the cables are to be laid. As the proposed works are likely to affect productive agricultural land, the route and depth of cables is critical. In particular, cables must be laid at a depth of at least 1.2 metres below ground level in order not to interfere with normal farming operations. This depth has been agreed on similar schemes. 2. Soil Management No details are provided as to how the treatment and reinstatement of soil will be handled during and after construction. This is another major concern. Greater clarity is required on the detail of soil reinstatement, or the measures that will be put in place to bring the soil back to its condition and quality before the works took place, and especially the detail within the after-care plan. 3. Field Drainage No information has been provided as to how any field drainage will be identified prior to construction or how it will be reinstated post-construction. These details should be considered as part of the application for the DCO. 4. Future Rights The applicant refers in its letter of 12 September to the need to “provide Northern Powergrid with the appropriate rights to access and maintain the undergrounded line in the future”. It is not clear what these rights are but the as-yet unrestricted nature of them could prove unduly onerous for the Council and its tenants, and could disrupt the efficient management of this land in the future. Further clarification on this point is therefore needed. 5. Works Compounds & Access It is noted that works compounds (“Driving Compounds”) are proposed to be located on the Council’s land during the construction period. The scale of these and the length of time for which they will be on site is not clear and the Council and its tenants require further clarification in this regard. In particular, how access to the land is to be gained during the construction period if any of the compounds temporarily obstructs the main access track, which also provides private access to a neighbouring farm under an agreement between the owner and the Council. 6. Other Matters In addition to the overhead power lines dealt with above, the applicant refers to the existence of overhead telecommunication lines and states that it is not yet known whether these will similarly need to be undergrounded. The extent and location of these lines is not clear and so it is not known whether the potential undergrounding of these lines will also affect Council-owned land. If that proves to be the case, then the foregoing objections will also apply to any subsequent changes required to the DCO in connection with those telecommunication lines. These concerns were put to the applicant during the original consultation period (letter sent by e-mail on 15 November 2022), although no formal response was ever received. A copy of that letter was also forwarded to the applicant's agent on 9 January 2023. It remains the Council’s preference that these various matters be dealt with by negotiation with the applicant, and it is hoped that substantive discussions can be entered into in this regard without delay (the conclusion of such discussions being subject to formal Council approval). In the meantime, or until the various concerns set out above can be satisfactorily addressed, please note the Council’s objections to this proposal, as set out above.