Sizewell C opponents warn Suffolk nuclear plant 'could be the new HS2'
Campaigners fighting a new nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast say they fear a shortfall in finance for the project could mean it becomes another HS2.
Their comments came amid a landmark moment for the building of Sizewell C as a Development Consent Order was triggered, meaning construction can begin.
Andrew Bowie, the minister for nuclear and renewables, was at the construction site to herald what he claimed was a significant point in the development.
The new power plant, which could create 10,000 jobs, was given the go-ahead in November - but campaigners opposed to it say they will not give up.
Jenny Kirtley, from Together Against Sizewell C, believes difficulties in funding the project will prove telling.
“I think it’s a fight that can still be won because of the finance," she told ITV News Anglia.
"Look at HS2. We see HS2 workers walking around Leiston now. Is this going to be Suffolk’s HS2, half-built and then it doesn’t get finished because of finance?”
But operator EDF and ministers insisted they were happy with how the search for private investors was going.
The project is expected to cost at least £20bn, of which the government has already committed £1.2bn.Julia Pyke, the joint managing director of Sizewell C, said: “We are really confident in the funding. We wouldn’t be here today if we weren’t really confident in the funding and the government wasn’t really confident in the project.”
Her fellow joint managing director Nigel Cann added: "The project will invest about £4.4bn in the region. I’ve seen from Hinckley the massive change there when it comes to businesses and opportunities for local people.”
Addressing the opposition, Mr Bowie said he respected the views of local people but that nuclear power had a huge part to play in the country's future.
“Ultimately nuclear is going to play a crucial role as we drive towards net zero, driving down our carbon emissions and in the meantime creating thousands of new jobs and generate incredible benefits here in the local community," he told ITV News Anglia.
EDF said Sizewell C would be much more than a power station for the region, helping to boost employment and skills and developing new clean technologies, as well as generating low-carbon power for six million homes until the end of the century.
The Stop Sizewell C campaign claims East Anglia is quickly becoming the country’s "power pack", and that wildlife and the countryside will pay the price.
Alison Downes from the group said: "We don’t see any energy security in putting so many projects in such a small area.
"If something was to happen to the Sizewell C power lines then the UK would lose a third of its electricity supply.
"That seems crazy to us and I think local people are bearing the brunt of a government who really doesn’t know what its ambitions are in getting to net zero quickly and cheaply.”
The RSPB has also raised concerns that construction will harm the species that flock to its flagship nature reserve at nearby Minsmere.
RSPB Suffolk's Adam Rowlands said he appreciated clean energy was needed to solve the climate crisis.
But he added: "We’re also in the nub of a biodiversity crisis. We feel this project at this location is, overall, bad for nature.”
The spade used for Monday's photo shoot was the same one that David Cameron wielded when work was getting underway at Hinckley Point power station a decade ago.
It is likely to be another decade before Sizewell C is built but some still hope that day will never come.
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