Representation by Mrs Louise Baker
- Date submitted
- 20 January 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am worried about the effects for the Aquind interconnector that has now been accepted for examination by the planning Inspectorate. I believe this will not be examined locally and I have grave concerns that those who will investigate it do not have an understanding of the local area and the specific affects this will have on the environment and community. In the community update newsletter Aquind sent recently, dated January 2020, I was not surprised to discover that they only received 155 feedback responses from members of the local community. The feedback form was complicated, lengthy and not written in an accessible information format. I have an MSc and it took me 45minutes to complete properly. I am very concerned that in this newsletter it states the preferred route for the cable and then lists two alternative routes for the cable corridor. Surely Aquind should have completed all investigations by now and know exactly where the cable will run and how that will impact on the roads and traffic. Working in Portsmouth, as a community physio, I can tell you it will cause a year of absolute mayhem in Portsmouth if any part of the Eastern Road is disrupted. Portsmouth is an island and comes to a total standstill with any issue on the 2 main routes in or out of the island. This will also affect my daily commute for the time it is being developed, if successful. Where can these changes, to say the converter station plans, be viewed. I fail to see how such a large building, that will generate such a loud hum, can be built so close to the South Downs National Park. It will definitely alter the landscape and will be seen from Butser Hill, within Queen Elizabeth Country Park. I still fail to see why the interconnector cannot be built near a landfall site. Surely bringing it into landfall much closer to another existing power substations, to reduce the impact on the local community and environment, should be the preferred option. I have been to most of the public exhibitions and nobody can answer the question of how loud the hum will be where I live if the wind is blowing in the right direction.