'Scrap plans' - Fylde protest group rage at new government plan for wind farm and 15.5-mile underground cables
“Previous plan now out of date and as such unfit for purpose,” says residents’ group.
A residents’ pressure group campaigning against a windfarm cabling corridor it claims will devastate the Fylde countryside wants controversial plans to it scrapped and resubmitted after it was announced that The Crown Estate is looking for a developer for the Morgan offshore wind site.
Last month The Gazette reported that the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband has decided to re-set the statutory deadline for the application to run gigantic cables from both the Morgan windfarm and the Morecambe Bay offshore windfarm through Blackpool and Fylde to the National grid at Penwortham, to September 14.
But now plans have been announced to launch a competitive tender process to bring the project back to market and the Fylde Says No! group says it is disappointed.
A spokesperson for the group said: “The announcement re the Crown Estate launching a tender process to attract a new investor following the withdrawal of the German developer Morgan Offshore Wind Limited, after failing to secure vital government subsidies last year, leads us to believe that this was merely a delaying tactic to attract a new foreign buyer to this unpopular project.
“The withdrawal of this original partner rendered the project economically unviable and the application should have been rejected on this basis.
“If a new partner is to be introduced at this late stage however, we feel that the project application needs to be scrapped and resubmitted as a new application, as the previous public consultation and related investigations and examinations of the proposed cable route itself are now out of date and as such unfit for purpose.”
The plans have proved highly controversial because of an associated 15.5 mile underground cable route which would come ashore near Starr Gate beach, close to Blackpool Airport, before running through the Fylde countryside and into a battery storage facility in Penwortham.
Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest football stories and new puzzles every day
With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe
In January, Morgan Offshore Wind Limited pulled out of what was originally the Morgan and Morecambe windfarm project because “the project is no longer economically viable”, but the Morecambe section is still proceeding.
Windfarm developers say the project will produce 1500MW - enough electricity to power nearly two million homes every year. The turbines themselves have been granted planning permission.