Representation by Anne Atkinson
- Date submitted
- 10 February 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am writing as both a resident and the owner of a small business directly on the route of the Cable Corridor proposed by Aquind. I strongly disagree with the entire proposal to make landfall on Portsmouth Island, only for the cable to leave Portsmouth Island again to continue inland. There is a little used harbour to the east of Portsmouth Island that could be utilised for the cable. I do not accept that this is not possible (as indicated by Aquind) - if the technology is available to enable the cable to cross the channel, the marine cable can continue up the harbour without disturbing Portsmouth town at all. Portsmouth is well documented as one of the most densely populated towns in England, and as an island it has only three points of access. One of these access roads is the proposed route of the cable and Aquind could cause massive congestion during works. Portsmouth has extremely poor air quality (worse than some parts of London) so ANY traffic disruption would be too much. The city is almost at gridlock every day. Furthermore, the safety of such a cable so close to residences and busy roads is inconclusive. Plastic/Rubber seals will always degrade over time and any small water ingress/equipment failure in the future could cause a catastrophic fire risk/danger to life. According to the plan, this cable would be within the distance of Neighbourhood electricity supply guidelines - but I believe the proposed cable should be at a distance equivalent to large voltage overhead power lines, not within 10 meters of residential property and under/alongside heavily used roads. In terms of cost, I would simply ask will French electricity be cheaper long term? How can this be quantified, particularly after Brexit? Why should we put the cost of our supply in the hands of the French energy market and the EU? Is that really the way forward?