Who to email/write to:
National Grid
John.pettigrew@nationalgrid.com (National Grid CEO)
Adrian.Pierssene@nationalgrid.com (Sea Link project manager)
contact@sealink.nationalgrid.com or write to FREEPOST Sea Link (no stamp needed)
Central Government
secretary.state@energysecurity.gov.uk (Ed Milliband is Secretary of State for Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
secretary.state@defra.gov.uk (Steve Reed is Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Mary.creagh.mp@parliament.uk (under-secretary of state at DEFRA with responsibility for: • circular economy • planning and land use framework • domestic biodiversity • international nature and wildlife • environmental targets and EIP • Protected Landscapes (National Landscapes and National Parks) • lead for Office for Environmental Protection • lead for Natural England.
chris.stark@energysecurity.gov (Head of Mission Control Net Zero)
Your MP:
Either Polly Billington or Sir Roger Gale
polly.billington.mp@parliament.uk (Thanet East MP includes Pegwell Bay)
galerj@parliament.uk (Herne Bay & Sandwich – includes Minster, villages, Minster Marshes and Richborough)
Public bodies
Marian.spain@naturalengland.org.uk (CEO of Natural England)
Tony.juniper@naturalengland.org.uk (Chair of Natural England)
feedback@planninginspectorate.gov.uk (say that you’re unhappy that they haven’t consulted more widely on their revised plans)
enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk (specify water quality and flood risk issues – that Southern Water will have to deal with)
Local and county councillors
iain.livingstone@thanet.gov.uk (Planning Applications Manager at TDC – specify cumulative impact issues and lack of consultation following refusal of the use of the hardstanding at Pegwell)
Adrian.verrall@thanet.gov.uk (Strategic Planning Manager at TDC)
cllr-rick.everitt@thanet.gov.uk (Leader of TDC – specify declared Climate Emergency 2019 and updated Climate Change Action plan (November 2024) is not considering wider implications)
Colin.Carmichael@thanet.gov.uk (CEO of TDC)
Perry.Cole@kent.gov.uk (Chair of Planning Committee – Kent County Council)
Derek.Crow-Brown@kent.gov.uk (Birchington and Rural KCC Councillor - Planning committee member)
Rosalind.binks@kent.gov.uk (Broadstairs KCC Councillor - Planning committee member)
EMAIL LIST: John.pettigrew@nationalgrid.com; Adrian.Pierssene@nationalgrid.com; contact@sealink.nationalgrid.com; secretary.state@energysecurity.gov.uk; secretary.state@defra.gov.uk; Mary.creagh.mp@parliament.uk; chris.stark@energysecurity.gov; polly.billington.mp@parliament.uk; galerj@parliament.uk; Marian.spain@naturalengland.org.uk; Tony.juniper@naturalengland.org.uk; feedback@planninginspectorate.gov.uk; enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk; iain.livingstone@thanet.gov.uk Adrian.verrall@thanet.gov.uk; cllr-rick.everitt@thanet.gov.uk; Colin.Carmichael@thanet.gov.uk; Perry.Cole@kent.gov.uk; Derek.Crow-Brown@kent.gov.uk; Rosalind.binks@kent.gov.uk;
Some Key Facts for you to use in your emails:
• Stakeholders have been too narrowly defined for the new consultation. Everyone in Thanet and around the Marsh and Pegwell Bay has a stake in this project proposal
• Stakeholders and members of the public who responded to the original consultation have not been informed about this new consultation
• A full project costing has not been made available to the public for further scrutiny
• Visual mock-ups from surrounding roads have not been provided
• The traffic impacts have been underestimated
• A Cumulative Impact Assessment has not been provided
• A carbon footprint report has not been provided (and this is key when destroying marsh land, which is itself a carbon sink)
• Richborough sub station was identified as the connection point and then the Routeing and Siting Study was based on this. Important options such as Isle of Grain, Kingsnorth, and other areas that could connect easily to Sellindge were discounted too early. (see https://www.nationalgrid.com/electricitytransmission/document/150956/download 4.4)
• There is no evidence from the project documents that Natural England have engaged with Southern Water to ensure that flood risk and impact on the sewage treatment works will be adequately managed Unsuitability of the new mitigation area
• The newly proposed mitigation area is completely unsuitable – nothing would make up for the loss of the marsh and damage to the bay.
• It is 3 miles from Pegwell Bay – outside the flight range of the Golden Plover which heavily rely on Minster Marshes at high tide.
• It does not represent 10% Biodiversity Net Gain as the area is already useful for wildlife and needs no mitigation to make it better • The only change is to adapt farming practices – so in essence they are doing nothing at all (see https://www.nationalgrid.com/document/153256/download - page 7)
• It will be across the road from 112 newly consented houses at Discovery Park which will cause light pollution and bring domestic cats – the bane of wild birds
• Is currently an area with high levels of light pollution from Thanet Waste, Stevens & Carlotti, Discovery Park and Kent Renewable Energy plant
• Is next to an important arterial road which causes pollution and noise
• Appears to need a new access road through an existing area of scrub and trees destroying more existing habitat. Damage to Wildlife and Habitat
• Loss of important Stewardship Scheme agricultural land – less food security
• Destruction of unique & irreplaceable habitats & wildlife at Pegwell Bay & Minster marshes including significant populations of 27 red listed bird species, 39 amber listed birds, and 74 other species
• Endangered bee and lizard orchids are present
• The Minster Stream and Stour are home to critically endangered European Eels
• Beavers are building habitats along the River Stour and the streams
• Area is part of the UK’s migration ‘super highway’
• Increased pylon heights and adding new pylons creates a deadly net for migrating birds. Neglect of Legal Land Protections
• Legal land protections are being ignored: RAMSAR protected wetland, Pegwell Bay is a National Nature Reserve (NNR), it is an important Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) – especially important for Natural England complaints
• Functionally linked land between Pegwell Bay, Hacklinge Marshes and Stodmarsh along the rivers will be removed
• The area is under consideration for a UNESCO World Heritage site. Climate Change issues
• The marshes are important for flood mitigation and are a carbon sink
• The area is predicted to be at risk from rising sea levels and is unsuitable for construction – which will itself also increase flood risk. Construction Details • The height of the converter station will be 28 meters
• The ground height will be raised by 2 meters underneath and they will add concrete piles 20 meters deep to stabilise the land on which the converter will be built.
• The Converter and Sub-Station will cover a minimum of 9 hectares – that’s 16 football fields • They will use damaging open cable trenches from the landfall to the converter station.
• They will tunnel through Pegwell Bay causing damage like they did with the NEMO link
• 15,000 lorries will have to carry 360,000 tonnes of aggregate & building materials on local roads for FOUR years: 2026-30 to create the concrete raft and the infrastructure
• Building works 7 days a week – 9am-5pm. Problems with costing the project
• NESO is planning to build another cable from Scotland to Richborough post 2030 (https://www.neso.energy/document/304756/download - page 42) - so this additional damage is not being planned for at this stage
• If NESO are proposing to build an undersea cable from Scotland to Richborough it cannot be argued that continuing a cable to Dungeness instead of Richborough is cost prohibitive
• The cost of the project does not include the additional piling and rafting now they have ‘discovered’ that the land is a marsh and unstable
• If the cables from Suffolk are now to be co-located at the Isle of Grain with NAUTILUS, the reason for cabling to Richborough surely goes away?
