Contact Us: via email and to register for updates cowfoldvrampion@gmail.com
The Rampion 2 proposal has been approved
On 4th April 2025 the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero, gave consent to the Rampion 2 windfarm. The Examining Authority also recommended it for approval seeming to conclude that all other considerations must give way to the ‘overriding public interest’ of the urgent need for green energy.
Whilst we support the drive for green energy we also want our wildlife and habitats protected, these also form a crucial part of the fight against climate change. This decision does not do this.
- Many of Rampion’s surveys were incorrect; for instance, fields they presented as ‘of low ecological value’ were later classified by Nature England on the basis of our evidence as Priority Habitat Lowland Meadow. This error was acknowledged by the Secretary of State.
- The Oakendene substation site chosen by Rampion is the most ecologically harmful of all the sites they considered. It requires the destruction of the Meadows, around 114 mature oak trees and over 647m metres of ancient hedge, all of which are home to a wide variety of critically endangered species and would be a massive loss of carbon storage.
The best outcome for Nature would be to locate the onshore substation at Rampion's alternative site which is adjacent to the main substation at Wineham. This would be far less ecologically harmful and does not flood.
The Planning Inspectorate have given West Sussex County Council the challenging task of managing the inevitable traffic chaos in Cowfold, along the A272 and Kent Street, a minor single-track lane.
Next Steps
We intend to continue to fight this decision. With advice from a legal team to ensure our case is strong, we will apply for Judicial Review. Whilst we have funds to start this work it will requires a considerable sum of money- around £60,000. With your help we can raise the rest.
We have joined forces with the Protect Coastal Sussex group who are working to highlight the damage which would be caused to the South Downs, the heritage coast and to precious marine wildlife. You can read more on their campaign here https://www.protectcoastalsussex.org/ . They like us are not against green energy. They have produced good evidence to show that the turnings and planned cable route through the downs are in the wrong place and that viable alternatives exist.
Please help us to protect our county and its heritage by donating either using the details below or through Protect Coastal Sussex's website. You can use either website’s bank details; as both go into the same fund. We will shortly go live with a joint crowdfunding page, there will be more details to follow on both websites.
Please donate if you are able, thank you
Account details:
Bank: Barclays
Account Name: CowfoldvRampion
Sort Code: 20-88-13
Account Number: 93932362
So that we can thank you, and keep you updated please sign up to receive our emails, by contacting us on cowfoldvrampion@gmail.com or click on the link at the top of the front page.
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 most Cowfold residents were unaware 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 was 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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