Open Floor Hearing
Sturton by Stow Parish Council
Open floor hearing submission – deadline 3
The DCO is an important document in that it sets out what can and cannot be expected from Gate Burton Energy site.
The plans which are submitted are outline. There is not enough specific detail and the constant reply from the applicant has been that detailed plans will be drawn and submitted post DCO consent.
There cannot be informed comment as the plans could be subject to change. The layout is indicative. This is not adequate.
There can be no in-depth scrutiny if the details are not submitted at this stage. An overview of expectation is insufficient.
Low Carbon are an investment company – will the site be sold post consent and the subsequent owner? When will detailed plans be submitted to local authorities for acceptance?
If Gate Burton site is sold post consent will this protract the development timeline?
There is a five-year limit, post consent, to develop the site – does this mean 5 years from signing until the site is operational and generating? If not, will there be a scenario where the developer can ‘start’ but the project is not operational by the five-year limit of signed consent?
The use of 800,000+ solar PV panels does beg questions regarding their manufacture.
- Where will the panels be manufactured?
- Has the applicant been able to source the number of panels needed?
- How will the bare earth mineral mining be accounted for in the carbon footprint?
- How much carbon/pollutants will be expelled during the manufacturing process?
- How much carbon/pollutants will be produced to transport the panels from production to the site of use?
These may be pedantic questions, but they do have a bearing on any ‘green’ credentials.
There has been discussion regarding investment and expenditure of funds to produce documents to date, but none of that or future funding has been allocated as mitigation for communities which will have their locality changed irrevocably. A 60-year project will, for a significant portion of the population, be beyond their lifetime.
Communities should expect significant monetary reparation. The commercial gain of the site will be at the expense of our local communities with no apparent financial redress.