Sizewell C Community Forum 1 December 2016
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EDF Energy Sizewell C Community Forum 1 December 2016 Attendees: Brian Stewart OBE, Sizewell C Community Terry Hodgson, Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Forum Chair Council Ian Bryant, Head of Planning, EDF Energy Peter Chaloner, Little Glemham Parish Council Richard Bull, Head of Transport Planning, EDF Energy Margaret Carswell, Marlesford Parish Council Rebecca Calder, EDF Energy Roy Dowding, Middleton Cum Fordley Jim Crawford, Sizewell C Project Director, Parish Council EDF Energy Kenneth Parry Brown, Peasenhall Parish Hugh Gilmour, EDF Energy Council Hugh Hutton, EDF Energy Jeff Hallett, Pettistree Parish Council Tom McGarry, Head of Communications, Mike Stevenson, Rendlesham Parish Council Sizewell C Project, EDF Energy Stephen Brett, Theberton & Eastbridge Carly Vince, EDF Energy Parish Council Peter Palmer, Aldeburgh Town Council Arlette Smith, Westleton Parish Council Eric Atkinson, Aldringham-Cum-Thorpe Joan Girling, Together Against Sizewell C Parish Council Ben McFarland, RSPB Minsmere Nature David Burns, Benhall and Sternfield Parish Reserve Council Jon Swallow, Sizewell Parishes Liaison David Hepper, Bredfield Parish Council Group Ernie Hare, Darsham Parish Council Richard Smith MVO, Suffolk County Council Geoff Abell, Dunwich Parish Meeting Ian Pratt, Suffolk Coastal District Council Ian Norman, Farnham with Stratford St Tony Cooper, Suffolk Coastal District Andrew Parish Council Council Oliver Hurlock, Hacheston Parish Council Phillip Ridley, Suffolk Coastal District Council Edwina Galloway, Kelsale cum Carlton Parish Council, Knodishall Parish Council Tim Rowan-Robinson, The Suffolk Coast DMO 3 Sizewell C Community Forum EDF Energy Pat Hogan, Sizewell Residents Association Nick Mayo, Leiston, Saxmundham and District Citizens Advice Mike Taylor, Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth Simon Barlow, Environment Agency Alan Miller, Suffolk Wildlife Trust Gareth Dalglish, Natural England Chris Betson, Leiston and District Andy Osman, Suffolk Resilience Forum Community Partnership Leigh Jenkins, Suffolk Constabulary Introductory Remarks Brian Stewart OBE Community Forum Chair For those of you who do not know me, I am Brian Stewart. I am the appointed independent chair of this Sizewell C Community Forum. It is some time since we last met formally and in some ways I think we are resetting the Forum here tonight. That is why there is no agenda or any minutes for the last meeting. We are going to make the most of our time here tonight by updating you on the Stage 2 consultation proposals which, as I am sure you are all aware, were launched on 23 November just over a week ago. As your chairman, I was very insistent that there would be a formal meeting of this forum fairly early on during the consultation period, so one week in we have done that. Hopefully for future meetings of the Forum we will try and give you some further formal notice but it is good to see so many of you here tonight. I would just like to remind you of the purpose of this forum. The terms of reference are all on the website, but just let me read out and remind everybody of what the terms of reference are. It is to consider and advise on issues that might affect the local community and key stakeholders as a result of EDF Energy’s planning proposals, principally those arising from the development of a new nuclear power station on land adjacent to the existing power stations and any other associated developments. Consideration of the principle of building new nuclear power stations is outside the scope of the Forum. I just wanted to remind everybody of that. As I said, the main purpose of tonight is to hear a presentation by the nuclear energy team and Jim Crawford is going to introduce those as they are first called to speak. Before we do that, we have got two hours for this meeting. In view of the fact that it is now winter and some of you may have quite some journey to go – I certainly do – I will be trying to ensure the meeting ends on time at 21.00. The presentation, I am told, may last about 40 minutes and that will leave the rest of the time for you to ask questions. I do emphasise ‘questions’; this is not a place to do grandstanding or speeches. It will be a time for you as your representatives of various organisations to ask questions of the EDF Energy team. With that introduction, let me hand over, firstly to Jim Crawford, who is the Sizewell C Project Director. Jim has been in that role since March of this year, but he is familiar with the geography and many of you, having previously had an important role at Sizewell B. Let me hand over to Jim. 1 December 2016 Sizewell C Community Forum EDF Energy Project Overview Jim Crawford Sizewell C Project Director, EDF Energy Thank you very much, Brian. I would like to add my thanks to all of you for coming out tonight. It is a very important part of our consultation process so I am looking forward to the questions you ask, the points of clarification, but most importantly the opportunity to explain what is in Stage 2 of the consultation, recognising it has been a number of years since Stage 1 which actually closed in the early part of 2013. As a little reminder of what we are talking about when we talk about Sizewell C and the proposed development, this is an artist’s impression behind me of a twin EPR. That representation is of the buildings and not necessarily a final visual representation. We would work out that as we go through the process and in conjunction with local planning authorities come up with the best way to mitigate the visual impact of the station as we move forward. It is very similar to the site that is being constructed at Hinkley Point. The idea is to replicate the design and benefit from a fleet approach as we move on. In terms of the consultation process, it has been some time since Stage 1. That is simply due to the fact that it has always been the case that as part of EDF Energy’s strategy, Hinkley Point C would come first, followed by Sizewell C and potentially Bradwell B. We said we could not move forward until Hinkley Point C had reached a final investment decision and contract closure. That was achieved in October this year and then we launched Stage 2 in November some several weeks after that contract closure to ensure that we met our commitment to proceed to Stage 2 as soon as possible. The process will last until 3 February. There will be 23 exhibitions of which there have been eight so far. A lot of the material issued at the exhibitions is around the room for you to have a look at that later but I am assuming that a number of you probably have already attended an exhibition or hopefully are planning to do so in the future. Stage 2 will consist of several proposals which have been closed down to some extent since Stage 1 but there are a number which still have open options. They are genuinely open options and we are very keen to hear the feedback from yourselves and from the local communities through the various fora whether it is responding through the website or even comments on the questionnaire at the end of the summary document which you all have in front of you. Or by any other means, such as dropping into the Leiston office where the team will be happy to take any questions or points that you raise as part of the consolation process. At the end of this presentation we will summarise what will come next. Our approach is aligned with the government’s view on meeting the climate change challenge the country faces. We want to continue to contribute to the nation’s future needs using low-carbon energy. Sizewell C will have enough capability to produce enough energy for more than 6 million homes in the UK, building upon the experience and the legacy left from Sizewell A and Sizewell B in this locality. Should it go ahead, the project will create significant business, training and job opportunities for local and regional communities. Some of that will come out during the presentation today and we recognise that a significant construction project, such as the one we are proposing, can have significant adverse effects and it is up to us to try and mitigate those effects as best as possible. 1 December 2016 Sizewell C Community Forum EDF Energy That is why we are seeking views from you and local communities throughout the Stage 2 consultation. With that, we will move forward and I will hand over to Ian Bryant. Key Changes from Stage 1 Ian Bryant Head of Planning, EDF Energy Thank you. What I am going to do is refer you to where most of the slides appear in the document. This particular one is on page 7 of the summary document. This slide shows the key changes that have been made since Stage 1 and also the further detail that we have put together since Stage 1. For the main development site I think probably the first thing to say is that, in essence, where the power station is going and the footprint for the construction of the power station has not changed. Having said that, there are some important modifications that I will touch upon. Working from East to West, one of the things we have included in Stage 2 are our proposals for our sea defences and these will be along the foreshore. I will refer you to page 11 in the summary.