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Advice to Maureen Myers

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Enquiry

From
Maureen Myers
Date advice given
27 January 2011
Enquiry type
Email

I am a resident of the small rural village of Cresswell and am extremely concerned about the above proposal. This enormous project is intended to be sited on what is currently classed as a Flood Plain, Zone 3a risk, adjacent to a small business park which was for more than a century occupied by colour manufacturing companies for the ceramics industries. For all this time, mostly without regulation, it has been using and dumping heavy metals in the area, all of which are known to the Environment Agency. This toxic waste is on 1 known site (we are not sure where else could have been used over the 150 years of existence) and has not been removed, merely capped.

The proposed site is greenfield - this part has NEVER been in industrial use - only farming. There is also a biodiversity alert site (of local importance) running alongside.

The village will front the proposed power station and which would be sited approx 500 metres away, the nearest property being 250 metres.

Access would be along a narrow country road and emergency escape route (as far as we are aware as we have not been formally notified) would be along a dirt track through a farm behind the proposed site.

Our concerns are:

  • the flood risk zone 3a (the site also occupies a medieval water meadow
  • the toxicity of the adjacent land - and not knowing of the toxic nature of the farm land
  • it is a greenfield site,never been developed, in a quiet rural location with certain listed buildings and monuments and biodiversity sites nearby
  • the limitation of the emergency escape route
  • and finally the proximity to residential areas and narrow lanes - is there any ruling on the distance between nationally significant infrastructures and public areas?

Your earliest attention to this communication would be greatly appreciated

Advice given

We are not aware of the project that you are referring to. The IPC is a relatively new organisation which came into existence in October 2009. We have only been able to receive applications since 1st March 2010.

If an application for this generating station was submitted prior to the 1st March 2010, then, as the project is a gas-powered generating station with a generating capacity of over 50 MW, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) would have been the determining authority. The application will continue to be administered by DECC rather than be transferred to us at the IPC.

I would advise you to contact the developer directly with your concerns, and to find out if indeed the application has been submitted to DECC. If you have any questions about the IPC or our processes please contact us again.