Biodiversity concerns over proposed Sea Link cable

The proposed location of a major power line development in Kent has been questioned by campaigners after the confirmation of endangered eels on the site.

The National Grid have put forward Minster Marshes in Thanet as the location for a large converter station for Sea Link – a 90-mile undersea electric cable linking the Suffolk coast to Kent.

However, George Cooper, of Save Minster Marshes, raised concerns that the character of the land would be lost if the plans go ahead.

National Grid's plans for a new electricity line between Kent and Suffolk have been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, the company has announced.

The Sea Link project aims to lay 90 miles (145km) of undersea cable that comes ashore near Sandwich in Kent and between Thorpeness and Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

Adrian Pierssene, project director for Sea Link said: "We have listened to and considered all the feedback we have received, shaping the plans we are submitting as a result…

Minster Marshes: destroying a nationally-important habitat under the guise of ‘green energy’

More than 90% of the UK’s wetlands have been destroyed over the last 100 years, and they now cover only three percent of the country. But these biological hotspots are crucial habitats for a diverse range of animals and plants, and support 10 percent of our species. East Kent’s Minster Marshes are no exception, as George Cooper knows all too well.

Minster Marshes: a place of community importance and huge biological diversity

Cooper said:

I’ve been spending time on the marshes for more than five decades. We do bird ringing, and have recorded over 170 species of birds and animals, including turtle doves, skylarks, nightingales, curlew, water voles, slow worms, beavers and one of the most endangered species in the UK, the European eel. We have over 30 red listed species here, as it’s one of the quietest, unspoilt areas here in Thanet. In 2023 we ringed 90 percent of the woodcock, 90 percent of the jacksnipe and 50 percent of all the skylarks in the whole of Kent that year.

Minster Marshes are directly behind, and functionally connected to, Pegwell Bay which is an internationally important wetland. The bay provides rich feeding grounds for hundreds of thousands of waders and wildfowl, which head to the Marsh when the tide comes in.

National Grid has submitted its application to the Planning Inspectorate for development consent for the Sea Link project, which includes a 28-metre high, 90,000 square metre onshore converter station at Minster marshes in the Stour Valley.

The converter station, plus external equipment such as lightning protection, safety rails for maintenance works, ventilation equipment, aerials, and similar small scale operational plant, or other roof treatment, will also have a new substation immediately adjacent.

Ministers should launch a national public inquiry into the Government’s energy strategy which risks becoming “heavy-handed and undemocratic”, campaigners have said. Nearly 20 rural grassroots groups have penned a letter to Ed Miliband warning him communities are “crying out” to be listened to instead of being dismissed as “blockers”.

Campaign group Save Minster Marshes is among 18 signatories on a letter to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband  to say offering  energy bill discounts to people living near new pylons installed as part of the country’s clean power targets is “wholly inadequate.”

Save Minster Marshes say no-one in Thanet would benefit from discounted bills related to the infrastructure planned by National Grid, which includes a 28-metre high, 90,000 square metre onshore converter station at Minster marshes in the Stour Valley.

The proposals outline a preferred route which includes landfall in Pegwell Bay to the proposed converter station site and high voltage pylons over the land to the south of Minster.

There are no residents within 500 metres but it will be devastating for wildlife as Minster Marshes is adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the cable will come onshore through Pegwell Bay nature reserve which has SSSI, RAMSAR, SAC and National Nature Reserve status.

Campaigners have accused National Grid of potentially wrecking protected land in its flagship scheme designed to harness renewable energy.

Kent Wildlife Trust has taken aim at the energy giant’s proposals to build a converter station the size of 22 football pitches on Minster Marshes, alongside underground cables to Pegwell Bay.

National Grid is considering whether it can fast-track two controversial power cable projects to help the government meet its pledge to create a clean electricity system by 2030.

The FTSE 100 energy company is reviewing plans to build a 114-mile (184km) power line from Tilbury in Essex to Norwich, which is expected to begin construction in 2027 and carry electricity from offshore windfarms by 2031.

It is also considering speeding up plans for the Sea Link project, 90 miles (145kms) of undersea cable that would come ashore at two points – near Sandwich in Kent and between Thorpeness and Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

National Grid is hoping to receive government approval for the projects by 2026, despite strong local opposition from campaigners who fear the 50 metre-high (164ft) pylons on the Norwich-Tilbury line would “destroy historic landscapes” and require a “huge loss of trees”. Green groups have also raised concerns that the Sea Link project would damage coastal ecosystems.

A public consultation into plans to lay 90 miles (145km) of cable under the sea between Kent and Suffolk ends on Sunday.

The Sea Link project would carry windfarm and nuclear-generated electricity from the Aldeburgh/Thorpeness area to the Sandwich and Ramsgate areas.

The National Grid has said the cable is needed to meet the government's 2030 clean power target.

Some environmental groups have campaigned against it, saying it will harm local biodiversity.

Emma Waller, the Kent Wildlife Trust's planning and policy officer, said: "This cable will come on shore at Pegwell Bay which is an internationally important site for wildlife, especially migratory and overwintering birds.

"It's also home to Kent's largest seal population."

The Campaign to Protect Rural England said Sea Link would be "a disaster", with Kent MPs Sir Roger Gale and Polly Billington also raising concerns.

Controversial plans to boost the size of a massive electrical station on the cusp of protected land have been branded “environmental vandalism”.

Conservationists want the public to air their views on plans to install an electricity cable linking Kent to Suffolk.

National Grid's Sea Link project aims to lay 90 miles (145km) of undersea cable that would come ashore near Sandwich in Kent and between Thorpeness and Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

National Grid has updated its plans for its Sea Link project and proposes an increase in height of a 90,000 square metre  onshore converter station at Minster marshes in the Stour Valley.

Conservationists want the public to air their views on plans to install an electricity cable linking Kent to Suffolk.

National Grid's Sea Link, external project aims to lay 90 miles (145km) of undersea cable that would come ashore near Sandwich in Kent and between Thorpeness and Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

After a consultation ended in December 2023, amendments were made and people now have until 11 August to share their views.

But Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) remains concerned over how the route will impact the wildlife at the bay and Minster Marshes.

In December the trust launched the 'Rethink Sea Link' campaign urging the National Grid to look at other routes for the cable.

The Sea Link project has been described by the Campaign to Protect Rural England as "a disaster".

“The humpbacks’ appearance off the Kent coast is also raising fears about the impact of new subsea electricity cables for new offshore windfarms on marine mammals.

Emma Waller, planning and policy officer for Kent Wildlife Trust, said that National Grid’s Sea Link project, which plans to install an underwater cable between Kent and Suffolk, had not undertaken enough research on its impact on whales, seals and other marine mammals and its landfall at Pegwell Bay could disrupt marine ecosystems.

“The sightings underline the need for these large offshore projects like Sea Link to fully consider their impacts on marine mammals,” said Waller. “Their current approach lacks adequate mitigation for marine mammals. Renewable energy is vital, but it must not come at the expense of wildlife when alternative options are available.

“There needs to be a review of the standards of ecological surveys for such projects – we need to understand what these impacts and implications are going to be.””

Kent Wildlife Trust has launched a campaign calling on National Grid to "Rethink Sea Link"

The trust's planning and policy officer, Emma Waller, said the route would cause disturbance to wildlife at the National Nature Reserve Pegwell Bay and surrounding nature sites.

"We are hugely disappointed to see that nature is yet again not valued," she said.

"We support steps taken to develop renewable energy solutions, but it must not be at the cost of wildlife."

She called on National Grid to "choose the least damaging route".

‘Limited’ consultation taking place over revised National Grid Sea Link converter station plans for Minster marshes.

Campaigners fear a precious Kent wildlife habitat untouched for centuries will be destroyed if plans for a massive electricity converter station covering the size of at least seven football pitches are approved.

The controversial scheme, which North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale has branded “cheapskate and unnecessary”, is being proposed by National Grid on the Minster marshes.

East Thanet MP Polly Billington says National Grid needs to rethink the controversial Sea Link project which includes a 90,000 square metre  onshore converter station at Minster marshes in the Stour Valley.

National Grid has officially submitted its application for development consent for the Sea Link project, a new electricity interconnector between Kent and Suffolk.