Residents concerned over wind farm cable plan

Residents have spoken of their concerns for the countryside, tourism and wildlife if another major energy project goes ahead on the Suffolk coast.

National Grid Ventures wants to install inland infrastructure as part of a power line - called LionLink - connecting the UK, the Netherlands and an offshore wind farm.

Its cables would reach land at Walberswick and a converter station covering six hectares (14 acres) would be built near Saxmundham, connecting to a substation at Friston.

The company's construction director, Gareth Burden, said ideas from the community had been "baked into some of the proposals", but one villager described it as "the wrong project, in the wrong place, at the wrong time".

Speaking at one of a series of public consultation events, Burden said 84% of LionLink's infrastructure was offshore and would power 2.5 million homes in the UK.

Where possible, its construction would co-ordinate with Sizewell C and Sea Link. the latter of which would share the converter site at Saxmundham, he explained.

"People are concerned about traffic disruption, tourism and coordination [with other projects]," he said.

"We're listening to where the pinch points are and we'll build temporary infrastructure to take any pressure points off the local roads."

Asked if the project was purely a money-making scheme – a claim made by some residents – he said the private company was regulated, with a cap set on its return.

Phil Smith, 56, from Walberswick, deemed it "the wrong project, in the wrong place, at the wrong time", and accused National Grid Ventures of "profiteering".

"It's profit at the cost of the environment, profit at the cost of people that live in Walberswick," he added.

His wife Esther, 55, added: "The impact is unbelievable for this area. We're a very beautiful area of outstanding national beauty and it's just being destroyed."

Jim Ashton, 62, owns woodland that was included in a bat survey ahead of the project.

"We have all sorts of interesting flora and fauna and the [cable routing], at the moment, is going incredibly close to our woods, which we feel could be very disruptive," he explained.

"We don't think they have taken enough account of the importance of the wildlife site.

"Interconnection makes sense commercially and giving us some energy options in the future, but whether Suffolk is the right place, I'm not so sure about."

Amanda Forsyth, 64, was concerned about the landfall site in Walberswick, where she has a house.

"It's a small, sleepy village that relies heavily on tourism for its income - this will destroy tourism within the village for up to six years," she said.

"If they're going to do it, it needs to be somewhere else, but preferably not do it."

George Fisher, 74, of Beccles, took a different view and had a professional interest as a former Eastern Electricity manager for the area.

Asked what he thought of the various energy projects, he said: "They are necessary.

"The coalfields and the Trent Valley provided all the power and the lines came from there to us.

"The coalfields are no longer there, so it's the turn of the East and the wind power to take their turn in supplying the power."

LionLink's statutory consultation runs until 10 March, with a development consent order expected to be submitted to the government later this year.

If given the go-ahead, the infrastructure could be in operation from 2032.

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