During the ScottishPower ( SPR) Development Consent Order ( DCO) Examinations in 2020/21, our local campaign group Suffolk Energy Action Solutions ( SEAS) challenged ScottishPower on a number of issues relating to the cable trench route.
One of our particular concerns was that the route ran through countryside that could be rich in archeological treasure. See this article in the East Anglian Daily Times: SEAS believes more artefacts could be unearthed on route.
The fact that Neolithic artefacts were discovered on the Bawdsey to Bramford route near Woodbridge requiring a change in the cable trench route gives credence to the fact that this multiple River Estuary region ( Rivers Hundred, Alde, Ore, Deben, Butley, Dunwich, Blyth and more) could reveal many more ancient treasures as these rivers were the main water routes used for transport in Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods of history.
Another Sutton Hoo ship is always a possibility. There are a number of mounds in this vicinity.
In fact, our case for judicial review was based on the fact that certain landowners who owned the fields leading to the banks of the River Hundred near Aldringham and Thorpeness were not engaging in these DCO Examination discussions concerning possible aquifers and artefacts on their land, because they had signed Heads with gagging clauses.
We made the argument that “we don’t know what we don’t know”.
At Court of Appeal, the judge agreed that we had grounds for a case against ScottishPower. Surprisingly, we didn’t win the case but there is still a big question mark hanging over the suitability of this cable route which landfalls at Thorpeness crumbling cliffs and carves a route through extraordinarily biodiverse areas including vital wetlands.
We are therefore encouraged to hear that ScottishPower is planning to carry out full archaeological surveys during the next year with results by end of 2025.
We have consistently recommended since 2020 that the offshore wind farms should be constructed without delay. We are not “blockers”. Far from it, we know that offshore solutions will make our transition to Net Zero faster and cheaper in the mid-term. The “blockers” are those organisations which stand in the way of true progress.
However, the cable trench route and landfall connection at Friston are mired in controversy and we recommend that an already used and proven cable route closer to London is chosen using an existing brownfield site for the connection which is closer to demand. There are a number of options and we think that in the very near future SPR EA2 and EA1N should be fast tracked and should be taken to a major energy hub where all the infrastructure is shovel ready now for usage.
During the next year we have proposed that the new Commission headed up by Chris Stark should explore offshore solutions where we can as a country emulate the cost efficiencies of Belgium’s system, pooling wind energy at offshore platforms and connecting to the onshore grid at brownfield sites closer to demand and where there are fewer adverse impacts for ecology, economy and community.