SPS calls for EDF to delay Sizewell C application

SPS joined with local campaign groups and 53 Parish Councils in urging EDF to delay the submission of their DCO application to the Planning Inspectorate given the current coronavirus outbreak.

To EDF and copied to PINS case officer:

We welcome the notification that the Sizewell C DCO submission has been postponed but are concerned that the suggested timescale is only for  “a few weeks”. The Society considers that this delay is inadequate in the current situation while the country responds to the national emergency and the majority of people are confined to their homes. At this time government, both central and local is focussed on the national effort to fight the pandemic, and furthermore communities and individuals are unable to fully engage with the planning process, either due to illness, caring commitments or displacement of other resources. The affected communities and stakeholders in Suffolk are utterly focussed on coping with the immediate challenges and uncertainties affecting their families in these exceedingly difficult times. In these circumstances the Society considers that the only morally acceptable response by EDF is to commit to postponement of submitting the DCO until the immediate crisis is over and there is a resumption of normal business.