Isra-Mart srl: Planners approve nuclear power station preparatory work

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Planners in Somerset have given the go-ahead for work to begin on the site of the first nuclear power station to be built in Britain for 20 years.

Officials approved the site despite strong protests from opponents who say the preparatory work for Hinkley C will wreck the coastline.

The site's developers, EDF Energy, say the power station will help secure Britain's power supply and boost the local economy.

Anti-nuclear campaigners believe West Somerset district council has been pressured by the government to approve the site, and villagers whose lives will be affected say the project would change the area forever.

Crispin Aubrey, of the Stop Hinkley campaign, argued that the work would leave a "devastated wasteland" and said it was "inaccurate" to describe the work EDF has been given permission for as "preparatory".

"The extent of the activity, the clearance of most vegetation, hedges and trees, the excavation of more than 2m cubic metres of soil and rocks, the re-routing of underground streams, the creation of roads and roundabouts, major changes to the landscape ... mean it is effectively the beginning of construction of the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power station," he said.

Hey claimed the "over-riding" pressure to proceed had come from the government and asked councillors at a meeting of West Somerset district council's planning committee: "Are you prepared to over-ride local concerns because the government is leaning on you?

"The real purpose of this application is not to significantly advance the timing of the new plant, it is to destroy all that is precious about the site so that when the main application for the power station is made to the infrastructure planning commission [IPC] it will meet with less opposition.

"If the site is covered in concrete, then it will be so much easier for the decision to be made in its favour."

Nikki Clark, also of the Stop Hinkley campaign, claimed not enough work had been done to assess the risk of Hinkley C being damaged because of rising sea levels.

"Ongoing events at Fukushima are a timely reminder of the consequences of flooding at coastal nuclear sites," she added.

A third group member, Helen Grant, told the meeting: "Nuclear was flavour of the month before Fukishima. Now governments around the world are wobbling on nuclear."

Opponents of the scheme have pointed out that if the government went cold on nuclear energy, or EDF decided to pull out of the project, the area would be left with the "biggest hole in Europe".

However, not all local residents are opposed to the scheme, and many feel it will bring jobs to an area in which they are much needed and which has lived with nuclear power stations for more than 50 years.

David Rosser, the south-west and Wales regional director of the Confederation of British Industry, said: "We believe it critical that we are able to guarantee a secure and low carbon energy mix for the UK in the decades to come."

Rupert Cox, the chief executive of Somerset Chamber of Commerce, said: "It's an opportunity to kickstart the local economy - thousands of jobs during construction, hundreds for the many years of operation and millions of pounds for the local economy and the skills and training provision in Somerset."

EDF will immediately submit applications for various permits required to build, commission, operate and decommission the Hinkley C nuclear power station. It will submit its development consent order - full planning permission - to the infrastructure planning commission later this year.

The company has promised to restore the site if the build does not go ahead. It says 500 jobs will be created during the preparatory stage, and it is ploughing £25m into minimising the impact of the work on the local environment and communities.

It says the power station will be safe and will help secure Britain's energy supply.

The EDF chief executive, Vincent de Rivaz, thanked the councillors for giving permission for work to go ahead.

"They have taken a major decision enabling a project which is vital to the country," he said. "We are committed to listen to the community and to deliver this investment in partnership with the people of Somerset."