Campaigners plan legal action in bid to halt expansion of Sussex wind farm

The Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm – which will see a further 90 turbines erected near a 116-turbine site – was given the go-ahead by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband earlier this month.

Undersea cables are planned to bring the power to shore under Climping beach and an underground cable route will take the power to a new substation at Oakendene near Cowfold, before connecting into the transmission network at Bolney.

But campaigners opposing the wind farm expansion have described the decision as ‘madness’ and say: “This isn’t green energy; it’s an ecological disaster waiting to happen.”

The campaign group Middleton-on-Sea Coastal Alliance has joined forces with Protect Coastal Sussex and CowfoldvRampion.

They said: “Once again, urgent need’ for energy has been used as a blunt instrument to override all environmental safeguards. But you can’t save the planet by destroying it.

“This massive wind farm off the Sussex coast will:

“Disrupt fragile marine ecosystems, including threatening all species of life in the Sussex Bay, including in Marine Conservation Zones, the already threatened Black Sea Bream, and the Wildlife and Countryside Act protected Short-snouted Seahorse.

“Slice through protected landscapes like the South Downs National Park, and at the substation site alone destroy over 114 mature oak trees, some centuries old, rip out 647 metres of ancient hedgerows and tear up priority lowland meadow habitat. Habitats and wildlife will be devastated within the entire project area. The European Landscape Convention and the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act were both ignored, as well as other guidelines such as distance from National Parks.

“Cost £3–4 billion, adding to energy bills already sky-high across the UK as we pay the subsidies to non-national companies to build and operate it here. There are even curtailment costs that are paid to the developer when there is too much power in the grid!

“We believe in clean energy – but this isn’t it.”

The campaigners are seeking legal advice aimed at obtaining a Judicial Review of the decision.

However, a spokesperson for Rampion 2 said: “The Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm was awarded consent by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, after an extensive Examination where these issues were thoroughly explored.

“Over the past four years, we refined and adapted the proposals, listening to community and expert input, and our goal throughout has been to create the best possible project for this site for the community, wildlife and the environment.

“Once built, Rampion 2 could power the equivalent of over one million homes and reduce carbon emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes per year. Put another way, Rampion 2 could generate the equivalent of around three-quarters of all the electricity demands for the whole of Sussex and, combined with the operating Rampion Wind Farm, could power the entire electricity demand for Sussex.”