Sizewell C

Sizewell C

EDF Energy have applied for planning permission to build Sizewell C.

This is a new nuclear power station with 2 reactors on a site about 14 miles from Hacheston.  It is expected that the planning process will take over a year and the build if agreed will take 9 - 12 years and cost around £20 billion, employing 8000 workers at its peak.

What does it mean for Hacheston

Construction workers will not be allowed to park at Sizewell but will use buses from the P & R sites.  Hacheston is the site for the Southern Park and Ride facility, near to Fiveways roundabout, the junction of the B 1116 and B 1078 as shown on the map.

 The site has parking for 1,250 cars and will operate round the clock with 1,784 vehicle movements in the day and nearly 900 at night. There will also be a postal consolidation facility for deliveries to the main site. Most of this traffic will use Fiveways Roundabout, which could become a serious bottleneck and hundreds of workers’ cars will drive through Wickham Market and along Hacheston Street.

Hacheston Parish Council has been involved for 8 years with this project, making representations at 4 stages of consultations.  We have voiced residents’ concerns about the appearance of the Park and Ride site, light spill, air pollution and noise and the increase in heavy goods vehicles on the A12.  We have stressed that people are worried about traffic speeding through the village of Hacheston and the effect of hundreds of extra vehicles on the minor roads and small lanes in and around the parish.

We will be making representations on behalf of Hacheston residents ahead of the Examination and we need to hear your views on the proposal.  Please email The Clerk : hachestonparishclerk@gmail.com

Stage 4 Consultation

Hacheston Parish Council's response to SZC Stage 4 consultation can be found by clicking here. The photographs to support it can be found here.

Stage 3 Consultation  

Hacheston Parish Council's full response to the Sizewell C Stage 3 Pre-Application Consultation can be found by clicking here (pdf format).

A summary of the Parish Council’s response at Stage 3 is given below.

1. Southern Park and Ride (SPR)

The majority of Hacheston residents object to the siting of the SPR.

• EDF has failed to demonstrate that the chosen location is the best. Workers heading to the SPR from the Ipswich and Felixstowe areas will have to use the A12 around Woodbridge which is already seriously congested. An SPR sited south of Woodbridge would reduce light vehicle traffic by a significant amount. There is an existing P&R at Martlesham which has unused capacity and could be enlarged or P&R facilities could be provided at the proposed Freight Management Facility on the A14.

• The proposed site in Hacheston will disfigure the landscape and cause light pollution, air pollution and noise pollution. HPC welcomes the bunds which are intended to hide the site but these large alien features need to be planted to soften their impact. HPC is concerned about light pollution in an area where dark skies are valued. EDF presents insufficient detail on lighting but even with downlights the loom of the lights plus vehicle headlights will be significant. We are concerned about air pollution which EDF describes as “not likely to [have] a significant air quality effect”. We are concerned about noise pollution as we do not believe that EDF has taken into account the full impact of noise from additional traffic. They state that noise pollution is “not significant”.

2. Traffic impact in Hacheston

• The increase in traffic will have a significant impact on the lives of Hacheston residents. Since Hacheston has virtually no public transport, residents use the roundabout known as Fiveways for all journeys between the village, the A12 and railway stations. HPC is concerned about congestion, noise and air pollution caused by vehicles using the SPR. Speeding traffic has long been a concern in Hacheston and the SPR will greatly worsen the situation. Workers hurrying to the SPR could be tempted to exceed the speed limit on straight sections of the B1116.

Stage 2 Consultation

Hacheston Parish Council submitted a comprehensive response in February 2017 to the Stage 2 proposals that EDF had published. HPC's Submission can be found by clicking this link .

Sizewell C planning application - public consultation commencing 18th November 2020

Local MP Dr Dan Poulter raised some of our concerns about EDF’s application in parliament and you can see his question and the minister’s response here.

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/cd472df6-8cc3-4272-9781-d4f6f982af99?in=12:06:18&out=12:08:12

 Meanwhile EDF intends to make some changes to the application which include an increase in the frequency of freight train movements to transport bulk material by rail and improvements to the earth banks (bunds) which screen the Park and Ride site. A 30 day public consultation on the changes starts on 18th November. Hacheston Parish Council's response to this can be found here.

Following submission of the application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) in May 2020, EDF have published a useful Briefing document on the Planning Process for SZC which includes dates for key stages. 

 Adrian Revill,
Chairman of Hacheston Parish Council;
19th March 2021.