Thousands raise concerns about £500m power station plan

THE LEADER of Fareham Borough Council has said he sympathises with objectors to a £500m power station in Lee-on-the-Solent as more than 1,000 residents voice their concerns online.
What the interconnector IFA2 site at Daedalus in Lee-on-the-Solent would look likeWhat the interconnector IFA2 site at Daedalus in Lee-on-the-Solent would look like
What the interconnector IFA2 site at Daedalus in Lee-on-the-Solent would look like

National Grid’s application to the council for a 22m-high station at Daedalus has prompted a huge internet response, receiving a total of 1,114 comments from residents.

Their concerns are mostly based around the noise the building will generate, its size and the fact it will be within 200m of nearby homes.

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Lee-on-the-Solent, Hill Head and Peel Common residents’ associations have written to the cabinet minister for local government and communities, Greg Clark MP, to urge him to have a closer look at the application.

The associations fear the council will act as a judge and jury on the application as if the council approves the plans, it will end up leasing the land to the energy provider.

Council leader Cllr Sean Woodward said: ‘I do understand and sympathise with those who have their concerns about the application.

‘The council will not allow National Grid to build the station if it cannot appease those concerns. I will not have the future for Daedalus destroyed.’

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The former navy airfield was rebranded earlier this month as Solent Airport, with the council planning a £50m masterplan to transform the land into a ‘premier’ business site.

Simon Whitehouse, of David Newberry Drive, Lee-on-the-Solent, said: ‘I believe the proposed IFA2 will generate a level of noise that will be a permanent nuisance and it will be an eyesore.’

Philomena Swatton, of Albacore Close, Lee-on-the-Solent commented: ‘This is too big an industrial development to be put in a residential area.

‘I believe that Fareham Borough Council should listen to the overwhelming concerns of the affected communities of Lee-on-the-Solent and Gosport and reject this preposterous proposal.’

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If approved, the energy link will connect the UK to France via 120 miles of sub-sea cables enabling electricity to be imported from and exported to Europe.

The plans have come in two applications, one for the building at Daedalus and one for permission for cables at Chilling Farm to connect the building to the National Grid.

A decision on the plans is expected to be made in September.