Representation by J W Grant & Co Pension Fund (J W Grant & Co Pension Fund)
- Date submitted
- 13 June 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Brown & Co LLP are retained by J W Grant & Co Pension Fund, Fold Hill, Old Leake, Boston, Lincolnshire and have been instructed to make this Relevant Representation objecting to ODOW’s DCO application on their behalf. J W Grant & Co Pension Fund have met with the Scheme and the Scheme’s agents on a number of occasions to discuss the proposed development. The below concerns have been clearly raised and documented with Outer Dowsing however they have not been properly addressed by the scheme leading to the submission of these representations. Grounds of Objection: 1. Insufficient cable burial depth Cropping in the Lincolnshire silts comprises almost entirely of vegetable and root crops supplying predominantly supermarket retailers. Continuity of supply requires access to land throughout the year and in all conditions. These requirements are unusual in agriculture and unique in Lincolnshire. The industry standard installation depth of 1.2 metres (to the top of the tile) may be deemed sufficient in typical combinable cropping soils with good structure and stability not requiring the year round access of the silt lands. Unfortunately, these conditions are not present on the Fen silts. The silt soils in question are structurally weak, suffering from failure on regular basis. It is not uncommon for farm machinery to sink to depths in excess of the proposed cable depth. As a result there is a risk that normal agricultural operations will not be able to take place unless the cable is at a depth where agricultural operations will not come in contact with the cables. Despite the issue being raised early in the negotiation process, inadequate, scientific evidence has been provided to act as assurance to landowners and occupiers that the cable can be maintained at the proposed depth, largely on account of the lack of practical testing to date. Not only does this raise concerns surrounding liability in the event of damage to the cable (expanded below), it also poses a serious health and safety threat which is impossible to fully mitigate against if the location of the infrastructure cannot be assured. Deep cultivations are often required to assist in reinstating damage caused by accessing land during wet periods and while these cultivations generally don’t exceed 750mm issues do occur with soft ground and sinking machines leading to cultivations in excess of this depth. With the changing climate and the longer, more intense periods of rainfall the fragility of these soils will be exposed to a greater extent. It has also been raised by the wider LIG that the monitoring of the cable depth needs to be carried out on a regular basis to ensure that the infrastructure does not come into conflict with normal agricultural operations. This has not been accepted by the project which exposes the land owners and occupiers to potential risk. 2. Soil profile. The proposed Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind Farm onshore cable route runs through high quality, Grade 1 agricultural land. The silt soils are unique in their characteristics and almost unmatched in terms of productive capacity. The Lincolnshire Fen silts benefit from stoneless composition, allowing for uniform growth and production of top quality root and vegetable crops which, in turn minimises rejections of crops by the customers and ensures supply contracts are fulfilled. Stone contamination during the construction phase of the scheme will have significant, widespread and long-term negative impacts on crop quality, production and packhouse processing 3. Soil Management Plan The Soil Management Plan produced by ODOWF is a high level document and fails to capture the specifics of the soil and sub-soil qualities of land impacted by the proposed route. Handling, storage and reinstatement of silty soils gives rise to individual challenges that the scheme have not demonstrated they are capable of managing and mitigating. 4. Running Sand & Running Silt Sub-soils in the locality often comprise running silts or running sands being highly unstable and unpredictable. Not only will this exacerbate the issue of the insufficient cable burial depth as outlined above, it is also unknown how the soils will behave during construction (trenching, storage), reinstatement and retaining the cable in the installed position. Silts can also lose structure easily and silt failure would be a significant issue in the silts soils along the route. In addition, there is a lack of detail relating to the approach for handling and the conditions that could present during and post-installation. 5. Dust Contamination Cropping in the grade 1 silt land comprises predominantly of vegetables being particularly susceptible to dust contamination. Even low levels of dust contamination will discolour vegetable crops resulting in rejection by retailers and total loss of crop for growers. These losses may result in some producers being unable to satisfy their retail contracts and potentially incur contractual penalties. Silts are light and frangible when dry, being particularly susceptible to wind blow. 6. Liability. The terms offered by the scheme place liabilities for damage on the landowner which in addition to the above issues make entering into a voluntary agreement unresponsible. All of the above contributes to an overall failure to reassure landowners/stakeholders that ODOW’s cable can and will be installed and maintained at the proposed depth, that the industry standard depth is adequate, and that reinstatement will be sufficiently successful to allow agricultural operations to resume following hand-back of the land. The behaviour of soils and the nature of agriculture in the silt land in particular means that Grantors need indemnifying by the project against accidental damage to the cable. Accidents involving such infrastructure have the capacity to extinguish even the most successful and well-established farming businesses on account of the potential scale of costs/losses that it could result in and therefore, assurances that individuals or businesses will not be expected to cover these provided they were acting reasonably is not satisfactory protection. 7. Occupiers Consent As part of the negotiation process the Occupier’s Consent has been discussed with a view to protect seasonal occupiers from the potential risks that will arise from the scheme however the final wording of this document remains unnegotiated days before landowners are meant to sign the documentation of which the ‘Occupiers Consent’ forms part. As a result the deadline imposed for the signing of the documentation is unreasonable unless it is signed on the basis that the Occupier’s Consent will continue to be negotiated after the deadline imposed by the scheme. 8. Preservation of terms agreed under the Heads of Terms [HOT’s] – The parties have negotiated Heads of Terms over an extended period, which are too detailed to include here. These HoT’s include agreements on multiple commercial, practical and legal issues which were deemed pertinent, and agreed, by both sides in the process. If the ability to rely on the terms contained within the HoT’s is removed consequent to the failure to complete legal documentation, we reserve the right to bring these points back into the representation process at a later date as relevant. 9. The provision of incorrect documentation A significant number of the engrossments have been issued to some solicitors with errors with only a matter of days before the deadline for signing resulting in landowners and occupiers not being in a position to meet the deadlines imposed by the scheme. Objection: J W Grant & Co Pension Fund will continue to engage with ODOW in an attempt to constructively resolve the issues highlighted and endeavour to reach a voluntary agreement. However, given the potential scope and extent of the concerns outlined above to negatively impact the agricultural operations on the affected land indefinitely and in turn, the wider business J W Grant & Co Pension Fund must strongly object to the Development Consent Order application. J W Grant & Co Pension Fund reserves the right to continue to make representations throughout the Examination process if necessary to protect their position. It is not felt that at this stage the representatives of the scheme have provided the necessary assurances and undertakings that that the design of the scheme will differ to address the specific issues that will arise where the scheme crosses silt land Should the Examining Authority require any additional information in relation to this representation, please contact Daniel Jobe of Brown & Co LLP [REDACTED]