Contact Us: via email and to register for updates cowfoldvrampion@gmail.com
The Rampion proposal is now with the Planning Inspectorate
Rampion's Application for Development Consent was accepted by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). The Examination period ended on 6th August 2024. The examining panel now have 3 months to come to a decision. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband) will then have a further 3 months to make a final decision.
Here you can read the letter that we have sent to the Secretary of State for Energy Security, and Steve Reed as Environment Secretary
Register here for updates from the Planning Inspectorate (PI)
Click here to go to the Planning Inspectorate website where you can find out more.
If you live, work or are just passing through Cowfold and are going to be affected by the added congestion and traffic control measures resulting from the proposed construction of a 3 storey sub- station and it's associated infrastructure.
Rampion's Proposals for Cowfold
We are a group of Cowfold residents who only found out about the Rampion 2 proposals, to build a new substation to connect to the main one at Wineham, at the very end of what has supposed to have been a two-year public consultation, which closed in November 2022.
The consultation was to focus particularly on the communities most likely to be affected i.e., those close to the offshore windfarm, the cable route, and especially the substation sites under consideration.
We discovered that there was widespread ignorance amongst Cowfold residents of what is about to happen; almost nobody feels that they have been consulted. Rampion are supposed to have ‘fully engaged’ with all residents within a 1km distance of the cable routes and 3km of the possible substation sites. Much of Cowfold is actually within 3km of all the substation sites they considered, yet we have heard nothing, or not before it is too late to alter their choices or make our concerns about these choices understood. As a result we have been actively campaigning to raise awareness and represent the views of local residents and businesses.
What is proposed?
In order to help meet the green energy demands of this country, Rampion want to build another offshore windfarm and connect it to the main substation at Wineham via a cable. This will come via a smaller substation where the voltage will be increased to the 400 kv required to connect to the main substation. There is already a Rampion 1 substation adjacent to the bigger Wineham substation. The substation is the only onshore part of the project which will remain above ground when it is finished. It is projected that the work will take up to 6 years to complete.
This is a National Infrastructure project, like HS2, and as such is dealt with by a national planning body, the Planning Inspectorate (PI). The Planning Inspectorate's explanation of the process can be found here in their letter to a Cowfold resident together with their links to further information.
The examination stage focused on what effect this proposal may have on the local communities and whether this is acceptable, or whether these effects can be sufficiently mitigated to allow the plan to go ahead.
Obviously, it would have been better to get these issues out during the initial consultation phase, when they were choosing locations, but as Cowfold was unaware of the plans that was not possible!
Rampion’s substation proposals would have a considerable long-term impact on all of us in Cowfold.
The proposals include the following:
A 3-storey substation covering 14.5 acres. This is 1.5 times bigger than the village playing fields and nearly twice the size of the substation on Wineham Lane.
Temporary traffic lights for 6-8 years on the A272 by the Oakendene Industrial Estate
Over 8,000 HGVs – one every 5 minutes! (108 return journeys every day).
Thousands of extra ancillary vehicles.
Spronketts Lane and Picts Lane (both single-track) are likely to be cut-throughs to avoid traffic jams on the A272. This would be incredibly dangerous for all involved. Kent Street is proposed as an access route, however being a single-track lane with mud verges and a narrow bridge, it is totally unsuitable.
The proposals do not take account of: the existing traffic situation, the environmental impact, the high level of accidents along the A272 (over 50 in the past 5 years), and worsening pollution due to the stationary traffic.
Read More here
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