September 29, 2017
England

‘Strong concerns’ lodged by MP Norman Lamb and parish councils over wind farm off Norfolk coast

Dan Grimmer | Eastern Daily Press | 28 September 2017 | www.edp24.co.uk

Five parish councils, an MP and local councillors have told the company behind a huge wind farm off the coast of Norfolk that they have “strong concerns” about the proposals.

DONG Energy is consulting over an offshore wind farm nearly 80 miles off the Norfolk coast.

As part of the Hornsea Project Three development, nearly 35 miles of underground cables would be buried beneath the countryside, with a new substation near Swardeston and a possible booster station near Little Barningham.

North Norfolk Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, Steffan Aquarone, Melton Constable Liberal Democrat county councillor, Georgie Perry-Warnes, independent North Norfolk district councillor for Corpusty and parish councils from Edgefield, ​Bodham, Corpusty ​and ​Saxthorpe, Hempstead ​and Plumstead have made a joint submission.

They stress they are not against the development, but said they have “strong concerns”.

Among their concerns are that the same ground where the cables will be laid would be dug up three times, because of the phasing for the project.

They say: “It means all of the negative consequences of the cable corridor will be multiplied and the long-term damage to the area made significantly worse.

“Whether it is within the control of the developers, or something that only government can change, we will object vociferously and unendingly to any development consent order that is granted without absolute assurance that individual sections of the cable route will not be ‘dug up’ on more than one occasion.”

Other concerns include the height and noise of the booster station, while they are pushing for High Voltage Direct Current to be the technology used, saying that would “significantly reduce the deleterious effects of the development”.

They also want the local community to be ‘compensated’, potentially through reduced electricity costs or electric car charging points along the route.

DONG has previously said it is too early to commit to any form of compensation and it will look to minimise impact on local communities.

But the company has said that fund has been established for many of its projects to support local communities.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/09/29/strong-concerns-lodged-by-mp-norman-lamb-and-parish-councils-over-wind-farm-off-norfolk-coast/