'As stunned as I am angry': Fylde MP Andrew Snowden criticises Morgan & Morecambe windfarm decision

Andrew Snowden MP has described the government’s decision to approve controversial Morgan and Morecambe wind farm plans as ‘shocking’, warning of the impacts to residents and businesses.

Earlier this week, controversial plans for the transmission infrastructure serving the Morgan and Morecambe offshore wind farms were approved by the Government.

The scheme was granted development consent by Baroness Curran on behalf of the Energy Secretary and will see around 25km of underground cables installed across the Fylde Coast to connect the power to the National Grid at Penwortham.

Andrew Snowden, MP for Fylde, thinks the government has made the wrong decision. He told the Gazette: “I am as stunned as I am angry that the Government has approved these plans. This is a shocking decision. I was fuming at first, as you can imagine. But as we’ve moved on over the last few days, it’s just sad really.

“Once you stand on our coastline, walk across the farmland that would be dug up and meet the people whose lives and livelihoods would be affected, it becomes clear why there is such overwhelming support for the Northern Option.”

The Northern Option is a proposed alternative cable route for the Morgan and Morecambe offshore wind farm, which would take the infrastructure through a different onshore corridor to reduce its impact on the Fylde Coast.

Under the Northern Option, cables would be brought ashore at Rossall and taken through to an existing substation in Stannah. Snowden and other politicians have argued that the Northern Option would reduce disruption to Fylde and save an estimated £520m in infrastructure costs.

When asked if he had been in contact with the new Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, ahead of the decision, Snowden explained: “We’ve had no discussions. We never received replies for any letters, and one of the letters was joined with Lorraine Beavers.

“The Government has set net zero targets that are just plain undeliverable at best, and delaying any project like this just makes it even more undeliverable.

“I still do not fully understand now what’s going to happen now, because they put planning permission in for two cables and two substations, but only one wind farm, and the company is only willing to pay for half of it. I’m not sure how they are going to cross the T’s and dot the I’s going forwards.”