Controversial plans approved for beach electricty cable

Despite fearce opposition

Councillors have voted in favour of a controversial plan to bring cables for a windfarm off the North Devon coast on shore at Saunton Sands.

The cable route will go through a host of protected landscapes connecting to the national grid at East Yelland where a new substation will be built.

Members of North Devon Council’s planning committee said they were “torn” over the decision, having to weigh up environmental concerns and impact on local businesses against the need for more renewable energy to tackle climate change.

After a five and a half hour meeting at Barnstaple Rugby Club attended by 130 members of the public, the committee voted by 10 votes to 2 to approve the onshore infrastructure for the 100 megawatt test and demonstration scheme by White Cross Offshore Windfarm Ltd.

The approval contains 39 conditions to mitigate the impact of the 28-month construction on the community, environment and wildlife.

There were 1,843 objections to the scheme which was first submitted 18 months ago and a petition of 3,837 signatures presented by Save Our Sands (SOS) campaign group. North Devon Council received 41 letters of support to the plans.

SOS and community forum Love Braunton even raised £10,000 to mount a legal challenge. They said the developers had failed to provide sufficient detailed information for councillors to make an informed decision.

The cables will be laid in an area which includes a UNESCO biosphere reserve, a special area of conservation (SAC), special site of scientific interest (SSSI) and national landscape, with many rare birds and bats making their home there.

The route will go under Saunton Sands golf course and the Taw Estuary.

A trenchless drilling method will be used in the most sensitive sites and the work carried out in sections, planners were told

Concerns had been raised over the effect the construction hub in Saunton Sands’ only beach car park and next to holiday businesses would have on the tourism industry which was the main income generator for the area.

Lucy Tamlyn of the award winning Saunton Beach Villas said the business attracted 4,000 visitors each year and contributed greatly to the local economy all year round. Twenty-four of the villas were just 15 metres away from the main construction compound.

“We cannot see, under these plans, how we can feasibility continue to attract guests during the construction period,” she said.

Objections were also raised on highways grounds and air pollution with up to 92 HGV movements day predicted to come through Braunton village and pass the local primary school.

Founder of SOS Helen Cooper said White Cross had missed many chances to work constructively with the community and claimed they had created a “copy and paste” application from their desk at their base in Scotland and had been oblivious to the fact that there was a vibrant surf community in this part of Devon.

She said they looked at a map and put a pin in it.

“The developers have so very much to gain, global reach of the market, we have nothing to gain and everything to lose. All the time, energy and commitment we have given to try and stop this proposal is simply because we recognise how incredibly valuable this environment and irreplaceable habitat this is.”

But business and education leaders praised the proposal, which White Cross says will bring up to 300 new jobs to the south west and unlock thousands more jobs in the future.

CEO of the South West Business Council Paul Coles said over multiple decades there was “a huge supply chain opportunity”.

“The whole Celtic Sea is potentially 4 gigawatts of floating wind power rising to 20 gigawatts.

“The Appledore clean marine innovation centre is looking at clean propulsion for vessels. All this type of support and supply chain could be significant for us and exciting for the region.”

White Cross project director Al Rayner said the windfarm would generate enough energy to power 135,000 homes, more than three times the population of North Devon.

He said White Cross would demonstrate the viability of floating wind in the Celtic Sea, which was essential to attract future investment to the region and  accelerate the UK’s transition away from fossil fuels.

He said they had worked hard to ensure the proposals were sensitive to the local environment, taking steps to minimise disturbance during construction. This including avoiding any negative impact on the overwintering bird population, uninterrupted access to Saunton Sands beach and ensuring cables will be fully hidden along the route.

An enhanced bus service to the beach will be provided by the developers as part of a legal agreement with the council.

And he said there would be more than £500,000 in community benefit to support local and regional initiatives.

Cllr Simon Maddocks (Ind, Braunton West and Georgeham) said he wouldn’t be supporting the application as there was missing information.

Developers had used something called the ‘Rochdale Envelope’ approach which meant some details of the project did not have to be confirmed until permission was granted therefore giving them a level of flexibility.

Cllr Maddocks said he was concerned about Braunton Burrows.

“I think there is risk is that they (White Cross) will change what they are doing, Braunton Burrows is so important and as a SSSI it could be damaged. It is a world biosphere, it should not be touched, If I was trying to build a house down there I wouldn’t be able to do it. I believe they could have come on shore in another place that was less sensitive.”

Planning officer Andrew Sierakowski said 22 other routes had been looked at but there were environmental constraints along the whole coastline.

“It’s chock-a-bloc with designations and impossible to go on shore without going through one,” he said.

He tried to reassure the committee that there would be no disturbance during the construction across Braunton Burrows as the cable would go through the back of the site.

Cllr Mark Haworth-Booth (Green, Landkey) said carbon emissions been going up ever since the climate emergency was declared in 2019 and the Crown Estate, which gives development rights for offshore wind projects by leasing seabed areas, had been “dithering”.

“We made these great gestures and not enough has happened,” he said. “We have to get on with it. We are not alone in this field of floating windfarms, we have international rivals and if the UK wants to get the rewards both in terms of encouraging other countries to do something and also in technology and jobs we have to be leaders.”

He said Natural England had now supported this proposal and if it was good enough for them it was good enough for him.

Helen Cooper of SOS said she was disappointed but not surprised by the committee decision.

She added SOS and Love Braunton would take advice in due course on whether to challenge the decision as she believed there were still some anomalies.