EXTRACT FROM A LETTER ADDRESSED TO ALL TOWN & PARISH COUNCILS IN EAST SUFFOLK FROM THE ANGLIAN ENERGY PLANNING ALLIANCE
From Graeme Murray - Chair 

Anglian Energy Planning Alliance

In November last year the Alliance arranged an information and networking evening at Snape Maltings for town and parish councillors to discuss the swathe of energy projects that are set to overwhelm the Suffolk Coastal area. Owing to lockdown we have been unable to schedule another. Instead we will keep you up to date with occasional newsletters and are holding a Zoom meeting on Tuesday 9th June. 

EDF -SIZEWELL C
EDF has today, 27th May, submitted its Development Consent Order for Sizewell C to the Planning Inspectorate. This is in the face of fierce criticism from community leaders across East Suffolk who have demanded EDF put their plans on hold until after lockdown restrictions are lifted so that communities are able to scrutinise the plans in full at public libraries and discuss the project at public meetings. At a recent meeting between PINS and EDF it was also noted that the postponement of the EA1N & EA2 Preliminary Meetings may result in the timetables clashing placing an even greater burden on local authorities and communities as they try to read and respond to thousands of pages of documentation for these large energy projects.
Also re Sizewell: TASC are back in court on 3rd June seeking permission for a full Judicial Review Hearing into the EDF’s application to cut down Coronation Wood in premature preparation for Sizewell C.



SCOTTISH POWER RENEWABLES - EA1N & EA2
Councils and individuals who registered as Interested Parties with the Planning Inspectorate regarding Scottish Power Renewables' plans will have received an email from them about the hearings for EA1N and EA2. As the preliminary meeting and initial hearings had to be postponed PINS are seeking to alter the examination process so more can be conducted via virtual hearings using digital technology. The email you were sent contains a questionnaire to enable you to express your views about possible examination methods and timetable. Responses must be provided via the online questionnaire by 5pm on Thursday 11 June 2020. Your input is crucial as any decisions made by PINS about the examination process will have a bearing on the examination process for this and future energy projects. It is the Alliance's view that virtual hearings will weaken public participation and further disadvantage local communities whose views are being ignored.

MORE ENERGY PROJECTS

The town and parish councillors’ joint letter of 3rd March to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy requesting an urgent review of the cumulative impact of all the major energy projects planned for this area was approved and adopted by SALC and more recently, too, by the National Association of Local Councils. As these projects would affect all of us in East Suffolk in some way, it is vital we continue to engage with the process robustly. The energy companies will claim an economic case for greenlighting these projects. Our view remains that their development will cause irreparable environmental damage to this area and have a very negative economic impact on our valuable tourism industry just as businesses in the area are trying to recover from lockdown. The attached timetable for all the energy projects proposed over the next 15 years illustrates the huge scale of industrialisation being proposed.