The planned substation will cover 6 hectares (approximately 15 acres), with another 3 hectares needed during construction. This is huge, much bigger than the one at Wineham and 12-15m high. They want to access the site, at Oakendene, at the junction between the A272 and Kent Street, either directly from the main road or from Kent Street.

The substation construction and operation will have a huge effect on Cowfold. Few residents are aware of what might happen, but they will all be affected, by the lasting visual impact and the ongoing traffic disruption during the 3-6 years of construction.

Some of the concerns below have been superficially addressed by Rampion but largely by internet searches rather than formal assessment or interaction with local people with local knowledge. So, some of them they have simply not been considered although they are of major importance to residents.

Traffic and Transport

Rampion estimate over 8000 HGVs will go to and from Oakendene during the building of the substation, an average of 54 HGV movements to and from the site each day. They will slow down or stop to turn in and out and traffic lights will be used to control the traffic. On top of this there will be thousands of support vehicle movements, and HGVs going down to the cable routes, which will have to come through the village. They claim that because the main HGVs will not go into the village there will be no impact on the traffic in the village, but we all know how even very small hold ups can cause major blockages on this busy road. There will be traffic lights on the A272 for up to 6 years. This will cause major traffic queues and increase air pollution on the A272, which already exceeds safe levels in Cowfold.

Increased traffic will also result in additional costs and delays for residents and businesses. Emergency services may not be able to get through.

This stretch of the A272 already has one of the highest accident rates in the area. The increased traffic and HGVs turning on and off the road at this spot which has such poor visibility will make this worse.

Not only locals, but the many thousands of people who use this road every day will feel the stress of continual delays and traffic jams for years. There is almost no other place they could possibly have considered which would have had an adverse impact on more people.

To avoid traffic queues on the A272, drivers will try to use single-track side lanes such as Picts Lane, Spronketts Lane and Bulls Lane, which are not suitable for the increased volume of traffic and will be dangerous for horse riders, walkers, cyclists and drivers. 

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which would be destroyed by this level of transport. Life will be impossible for the residents of these small, quiet lanes. It is already not unusual for farmers to have to pull people out of the ditches because they have tried to use these lanes to bypass the A272.

Health

Apart from emissions and the disruption from traffic delays already highlighted, the construction and related works will also cause noise pollution, and stress, disrupting residents' daily lives.

Socioeconomic

Businesses on the Oakendene Industrial Estate fear for their livelihoods as normal working will become difficult or impossible and they are concerned that traffic delays will have negative economic impacts on their businesses, as indeed for any of the many businesses who use this road every day. They should have made a genuine effort to consult businesses who might be affected. They have not done so.

Environmental effects and visual impact

The proposed substation in Cowfold has not been properly evaluated by Rampion for its environmental impact, other than by a desk top survey. They were supposed to have done a full environmental survey before choosing the substation site. Sussex Wildlife Trust have noted nightingale nesting sites and Natural England report great crested newts in one corner. The Wildlife Trust have written to Rampion to express their disappointment at their findings and advice being ignored after being invite to provide input. You can read their findings here and on their website here. The Oakendene site was the only one under consideration which has a lake nearby. This is likely to have its own, specific ecosystem and could also be affected by the noise and pollution. To read more detail click here.

The vast raft of concrete may affect the properties on the other side of the road, which are already susceptible to flooding.

The substation will have a significant visual impact on the area and will spoil the natural beauty of the countryside. It will be visible from the main road, which although very busy, retains its rural feel. The tiny single-track lane of Kent Street has an ancient, very rural feel, which would be damaged irrevocably, and lost to all. The veteran trees along the A272 will be removed if Rampion get the wide visibility splay they want to have in order to gain access for their HGVs and other, even larger vehicles to the site.