Tim Proudler sent a letter to Barbara Janke , Council Leader, offering to speak to Councillors in Bristol about the Nuclear Power Station at Oldbury.
Well done to Mark Wright for stimulating their interest.
Thanks to all of our supporters who turned up to The Council House---The next venue will be Thornbury on the 6th.
Dear Ms Janke
Development of a potential new nuclear power station at Oldbury on
Severn, South Gloucestershire
We understand that the development of new nuclear power stations will be
debated at Bristol City Council’s meeting tomorrow. In advance of this
meeting we thought it would be useful for us to provide an update on our
project at Oldbury along with an overview of the public engagement
activity we have carried out in addition to that by the Department for
Energy & Climate Change.
Although our project is in the early stages, we would like to assure you
that we are committed to developing an open, honest relationship with
the local communities and local councils near to Oldbury. To this end
weare keen to meet with Bristol City councillors to discuss the scheme
and answer questions on the project and are liaising with the Democratic
Services Office to set this up.
In the meantime, I hope you find the information set out below of use.
Horizon Nuclear Power
Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd, the joint venture established by E.ON UK and
RWE npower, is developing proposals for a new nuclear power station at
Oldbury. The company is working to deliver around 6,000 MW of new
nuclear capacity in the UK by 2025 and, in addition to Oldbury, it has
also secured land at Wylfa on Anglesey, North Wales.
Providing sufficient electrical output to power a city the size of
Greater London, Horizon Nuclear Power’s £15bn investment programme in
new nuclear build could create up to 11,000 jobs across both sites,
including up to 800 permanent jobs at each site. Our shareholders have
interests in 23 nuclear power stations in Germany and Sweden and jointly
own three stations in Germany.
Government’s Strategic Siting Assessment and Draft Nuclear National
Policy Statement
In March last year we wrote to advise Ms Ormondroyd, Chief Executive of
Bristol City Council that landadjacent to the existing power station at
Oldbury was to be nominated into a process called Strategic Siting
Assessment (SSA). Through this process, the Government aimed to identify
strategically suitable locations for new nuclear power stations.
Following receipt of 11 site nominations, the Government published its
draft Nuclear National Policy Statement (NPS) in November 2009. Of the
11 sites nominated, 10 sites, including Oldbury, made it through and are
listed in the draft Nuclear NPS.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is currently carrying
out a series of local and national events consulting on the draft
Nuclear NPS. As part of this process it is holding a three day
exhibition in Thornbury between Thursday 4th and Saturday 6th February.
The closing date for responses on the draft NPS is 22nd February 2010
and the Government is expected to publish its final NPS later this year.
Local Engagement Activity
Whilst our development proposals are still in the early stages, we are
keen to engage with local people from the earliest point in the
project’s development. Therefore, during 2009 Horizon Nuclear Power
initiated a number of informal activities to begin engagement with the
local communities close to the site at Oldbury.
We will continue these activities as the project progresses, which to
date have included public exhibitions; a drop-in surgery session;
newsletters, (copies of which have been sent to Ms Ormondroyd); a
are also planning activity across a wider geographical area surrounding
the site at Oldbury. This will include, among other areas, the City of
Bristol.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report
In November last year we submitted a request for an Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) ‘Scoping Opinion’ to the newly formed Infrastructure
Planning Commission (IPC). The request was accompanied by an EIA Scoping
Report, a high level document that sets out the environmental studies
and surveys we propose to carry out in order to assess the potential
impacts of a new nuclear power station at Oldbury. The report is
available to view at www.eon-uk.com/oldbury.
The local exhibitions we held around the Oldbury area last November and
December included an overview of the issues covered in the EIA Scoping
Report.
The IPC consulted with various statutory bodies on our Scoping Report
and provided us with a Scoping Opinion which can be downloaded from
their website –
infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/ProgrammeofProjects-5-Jan1.pdf.
Future Public Consultation
Any future planning application for a new nuclear power station at
Oldbury would be submitted to the Infrastructure Planning Commission
(IPC).
Before an application can be submitted, the developer must consult
widely with statutory and non-statutory groups, as well as local
communities, in order to refine theproposal and resolve as many issues
as possible.This means that as more information becomes available, our
normal engagement activities will be supplemented by more formal
processes in which we will be seeking input and feedback on our plans.
Whilst we would always commit to engaging regularly with local
communities, this new planning regime for nationally significant
projects formalises this requirement.
The first stage in pre-application is to agree with relevant local
authorities how the consultation will be carried out. This will be set
out in a Statement of Community Consultation (SOCC), which will be
developed and agreed with relevant local authorities before it is
published.
A SOCC has already been produced for the proposed new station at Hinkley
Point in Somerset, which is at a more advanced stage in the development
process than our scheme at Oldbury.
The new Infrastructure Planning Regime
We appreciate that the new planning regime is unfamiliar to many, so
we’ve developed a document which outlines in very broad terms the
different stages in the process and includes a diagram showing where
individuals and local communities have the opportunity to have their say
on our proposals. This document was circulated to Oldbury Parish Council
and South Gloucestershire Council recently and I attach a copy now for
your information.
As the diagram’s timeline shows, there are a number of potential
milestones scheduled for 2010. As mentioned above, we are liaising with
boththe Democratic Services Manager, and Ms Ormondroyd’soffice to
further our discussions with Bristol City Council as part of our overall
engagement. In closing, I would like to reiterate that our plans are
still in the early stages and no formal pre-application public
consultation has yet taken place.
We look forward to meeting with you soon. In the meantime if you have
any queries please contact our freephone number 0800 130 3125 0800 130 3125 or email
us at oldburyenquiries@horizonnuclearpower.com
Yours sincerely
Tim Proudler
Planning and Consents Manager
cc:
Cllr H Holland
Cllr R Eddy
Cllr M Wright
Ms Ormondroyd
___________________________
Wednesday 27 January 2010
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