Representation by Francis Prosser
- Date submitted
- 17 July 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Summary of key points • Inadequate consultation process. • Flawed environmental and ecological arguments. • Discounting of a preferred better and cheaper route option which resulted from consultation. • Lack of consideration of alternatives to pylons such as undergrounding (and more broadly subsea routes). • Actual construction and ‘mitigation’ plans are not finalised, with wide degree of scope for deviation / change. • Poor communication with landowners and residents. • Long term severe damage to people’s health, financial and personal wellbeing. • Unnecessary, avoidable industrialisation and destruction of previously unspoilt special and rare habitats and landscape • Local residents’ and political objection to plans. Details • The consultation process has been inadequate throughout and specifically regarding more recent late amendments to the plans and the consideration of alternatives during 2022 and early 2023, since the second consultation in spring of 2022. Some of these amendments even occurred after the consultation and without discussion or publicity. This is after nearly 14 years of consideration. Yet the actual plans remain unclear in places or at least with a wide degree of scope for deviation / change. • The environmental and ecological arguments for / against particular routes and options are flawed: they are incomplete and contradictory, being based on selective and inconsistent findings and studies, much of which are obscure. Some more recent conclusions have only just been made and did not contribute to the public consultation. They also do not consider the real impact on humans. • This has meant that an alternative route option around Hintlesham Woods, which was put forward by National Grid as a result of the original consultation(s) and overwhelmingly preferred by landowners, local and national politicians and residents along the planned section, has since been discounted, without further discussion. This is despite the alternative’s much-reduced cost and its avoidance of the new, additional proposed route: the new planned route would unnecessarily cause everlasting damage to nearly 5km of unspoilt, open countryside and farmland directly along the edge of ancient woodland and a SSSI site, far from the existing lines. • The locally preferred alternatives of undergrounding, especially in areas where there would be high pylon density and where they would destroy new areas which did not have pylons before, rather than paralleling the existing route, have not been adequately considered and should not be discounted. Undergrounding is provided as a solution on other parts of this route and on other projects in other similar landscape areas of equal environmental significance. • The construction and siting of pylons and lines so close to homes will cause severe long term or permanent personal, financial and health damage to many, including my family and two other immediate neighbours, as well as presumably many others on the proposed line. We are particularly concerned about the health effects on people. This damage can be avoided in places through alternatives and even at much reduced cost to National Grid. • The construction impact on people, the environment, ecology and wildlife will also be severe, in some cases potentially devastating. • National Grid’s plans themselves have already blighted lives for nearly 14 years, causing huge stress and serious harm to residents’ financial situations, and this will worsen. • The proposed route around Hintlesham Woods will see a (continued) industrialisation of a special landscape area, encircling an SSSI site very similar to other protected landscapes. This area is a largely undisturbed home and territory to many red list flying species and a huge range of other wildlife, including protected mammals. The proposed new installations would in turn attract further industrialisation and environmental damage along the route and area. • Whilst recognising the national importance of this project it is clear that National Grid does have the ability and resources to avoid many of these damaging effects to people, wildlife, the economy, tourism and the landscape in general and still achieve the national aims. • We will wish to submit specific comments on the detail of the proposed plans relating to the likely impact on our property, our neighbours and immediate surroundings, including the neighbouring ancient woodland. - Interest: resident with family home of 50 years, 35m from proposed lines, owner of land to be affected by construction, environmental charity volunteer.