Brighton & Hove Friends of the Earth

News Release issued on Thursday, 17 July, 2014

Rampion decision welcomed

But disappointment at National Park compensation

Brighton & Hove Friends of the Earth (BHFOE) is welcoming the decision to approve the Rampion windfarm announced yesterday by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change [1].  They believe that it will be a major boost for reducing carbon emissions and increasing the amount of clean renewable energy.  It will also be good for local jobs and particularly for the port of Newhaven which will help service the development.

The only concern was that the Examination Panel found that the mitigation package to compensate for harm to the South Downs National Park was minimal and there was no contingency if the restoration plans for Tottington Mount failed [2].

Chris Todd from BHFOE said:

“This is a major boost for renewable energy in Sussex.  It will help us move towards a future less dependent on dirty fossil fuels.  It is also a powerful symbol for the change we need to make if we are to offer our children a more secure future by combatting climate change.

“We also welcome the efforts EON made during the planning process to reduce the impact of the array on the Heritage Coast and the National Park.  However, it’s disappointing that the levels of compensation for the remaining harm to this very sensitive landscape are so low.  The Examination Panel, although recommending overall approval, highlighted their concerns about this.  In particular, that if the restoration plans for ancient chalk grassland at Tottington Mount fail, there is no contingency funding to remedy this.

“We believe that EON could have been more generous on this point.  The levels of funding we are talking about are a tiny fraction of one percent of the overall budget and would not have affected its viability.”

[1]   The Secretary of State’s decision letter can be access on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

[2]   Paragraph 17, Secretary of State’s decision letter and paragraph 4.60, page 41 of the Examination Panel’s Report.