HINKLEY C PROPOSAL – FoQ Submission
January 2012Friends of Quantock have submitted the following comment to the Infrastructure Planning Commission that is currently considering this proposal.
Friends of Quantock are the Amenity Society for the Quantock Hills and were founded in 1949 to preserve and enhance the natural landscape of the Quantock Hills representing both the local community and a much wider group of people who know and love the Quantocks.
We have followed the proposals for Hinkley Point C with some concern and have attended several of the presentations, as well as studying the various documents made public.
Our principal concern is naturally the intrusive impact that the proposal will have on the AONB. While the buildings are well outside the AONB, their impact will have a very major effect on nearly all areas of the AONB and indeed will dominate all outward views to the north and east. While we certainly support all measures to mitigate the impact, we fear that nothing will prevent the buildings having a very serious negative effect on a very important landscape that is of great value both to the locality community and the national interest. The scale of this impact appears to be acknowledged in the latest consultation documents issued last October. The impact will not only be during daylight hours, as light pollution from the buildings and associated works will also have a negative effect on the Quantock environment.
Other concerns centre on the traffic generated by the development, particularly during the construction phase. The narrow and winding section of the A39 east of Williton passes through the AONB and, whatever measures are taken, there is bound to be a considerable impact on what is already a dangerous stretch of road. We also feel that there will inevitably be increased use of the narrow lanes around the AONB and on the two routes across the hills. This will increase the accident rate, damage verges and passing places, and increase litter and vandalism as well as producing higher levels of noise and pollution.
As a voluntary Society we do not have the resources to comment in detail on the voluminous documentation of the proposal but, as a member of the Joint Advisory Committee for the Quantocks, we work closely with the AONB Service and are fully supportive of the views and representations made on their behalf.
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