Hinkley Point: Anti-nuclear campaigners climb trees to fight development
Anti-nuclear campaigners climbed trees yesterday to try and save them from being felled to make way for a new power station.
Three campaigners climbed an oak on the site of the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power plant in Somerset early yesterday.
Michael Hunt, one of the occupiers said: “We’re here to stop work on this criminal development and to protect the ancient trees that are surrounded by a special conservation area but mysteriously excluded from it.”
EDF Energy has planning permission from West Somerset Council to prepare the site for a new station and has signed an agreement with the council and the local landowner to provide £30 million to mitigate the impact of the works.
It has also agreed to restore the land if its application to build the station is rejected by the Infrastructure Planning Committee.
But campaigners are furious that permission was given for site preparation, which will destroy trees, before the application to build the power plant has been decided.
A spokesman for EDF Energy stressed that work currently being carried out on the site is normal ground maintenance to remove dead elm trees that are overhanging a footpath. In the long term the oak and other trees will go.
Last September West Somerset Council decided not to renew an emergency tree preservation order which campaigners had won six months earlier.
EDF says it is acting responsibly and has a good record for care of the natural environment, pointing out that Hinkley B station caused disturbance when built but that a nature trail has since been introduced on the site which won a biodiversity award.
The protest was precipitated by revelations last week in a report by Unlock Democracy and the Association for Conservation of Energy which said MPs and Parliament based their policy to build new nuclear power stations on “falsified information”.
Urging the Government to reopen the debate yesterday Tessa Munt, MP for Wells said: ”Whether people are in favour of, or against, nuclear power, it is essential that Parliament and the public are provided with accurate information in Government reports and public documents.”
4 Comments
by kenbreadstick
Thursday, February 09 2012, 1:26PM
“It's good to know there are still plenty of people who are prepared to get stuck in and actually do something for what they believe in. People like 'super' Tony probably just grumble about things under their breath, without ever having the bottle to stand up and do something about it. Even if I didn't agree with their cause (which I do), I'd still applaud these people”
by Dairsidheog
Wednesday, February 08 2012, 11:26PM
“"(EDF) has also agreed to restore the land if its application to build the station is rejected by the Infrastructure Planning Committee."
Assuming (dare I?) that the Oaks (and their neighbours) form an integral and all significant part of "the land" as it stands, then the all powerful 'EDF' has now claimed the unlikely ability (and even less likely inclination), to restore trees which are hundreds of years in age, post cull?
Next, they'll be throwing cash at their neighbours to turn their attention to their pockets while EDF sneak the chainsaws in, under the pretence of a little midwinter pruning! ...Silly me. That's exactly what they just did.”
by roypum
Wednesday, February 08 2012, 5:53PM
“Well done men! The coldest night of the year and you got no sleep with snarling dogs, shouting security men and flashing lights. You've done the rest of us proud.”
by supertony731
Wednesday, February 08 2012, 2:08PM
“Regarding my comment on high street shopping and people not having enough time to shop, clearly some people still do have a lot of time on their hands!”