Hugh defends Faversham Marshes

MP VOICES OPPOSITION TO WINDFARM SUB STATION PROPOSAL FOR FAVERSHAM MARSHES

Hugh Robertson has expressed his opposition to a proposal to site a new electricity sub station on the Faversham Marshes. The proposal has been put forward by Farm Energy, a consortium led by Shell and including a number of other companies with expertise in wind farms.

The proposal arises from a government decision to grant a license for a wind farm in the outer Thames Estuary, off the North Kent Coast. The wind power will be converted into electricity at a new onshore sub station to be constructed at Cleve Hill just beyond Graveney on the Faversham Marshes.

The new sub station will contain buildings between 40 and 50 feet high. A copy of the letter sent by the consortium to local residents will be sent to you by fax.

Hugh said: “I am extremely disappointed by the decision to seek planning permission for this new site.

“I am wholly in favour of the greater use of environmentally friendly forms of energy but not if the cost is the desecration of beautiful countryside. The marshes north of Faversham are one of the last areas of natural open countryside left in North Kent and I want to see them preserved and enhanced for local residents and wildlife.

“I have written to both Swale Borough Council and Kent County Council about this proposed application and hope that consortium will be forced to reconsider their plans.”