Rampion 2 wind farm: The view from the other side in Cowfold

Rampion 2 offshore wind farm examination closes

They also said they had been 'listening to community and expert input … to create the best possible project for the community and the environment'.

Far from listening, Rampion’s landowner and community engagement has been very poor.

As one lawyer said in a written submission: “In ten years I have never seen so few landowners able to sign agreements.”

The distress caused to many has been immense.

Fresh fears new Rampion 2 Wind Farm will decimate Sussex countryside

Expert and local knowledge input was frequently ignored. We sent them detailed evidence of the nightingale breeding sites, flower meadows and the many red-list species in this area. All this lies in the path of the cable route and haul road and will be destroyed.

An ecologist confirmed the high quality of the meadowland, which Rampion surveys described as ‘poor quality’. This habitat is rare and irreplaceable.

Many of the oaks on the Oakendene substation site are veteran or near veteran, but their importance was also significantly downplayed in Rampion’s surveys.

On the substation site alone, 647m of hedge, much of it over 200 years old, and around 100 oak trees will be lost forever. WSCC, in their last submission to the DCO, said that this had clearly not been taken into account when choosing the site. Many more will be lost by the widening of Kent Street.

All this destroyed for a substation which may last for 40 years.

Some of these impacts could be mitigated but RWE cite cost as the reason not to. We believe the same pattern has been repeated across the DCO, and the whole project should be rejected. It cannot be in the national interest to destroy wildlife habitats, communities and economies.

We understand the need for green energy but it cannot be right to allow companies to choose their sites on the basis of perceived ease of access and maximising profit.

If we do not give due consideration to the environment in the process, we will have no habitats or species left to protect.

By destroying their habitats, we make already struggling species less resilient to climate change, not more.

It is no coincidence that we are the most nature depleted country on earth.

The latest King’s speech highlighted the importance of halting biodiversity loss as well as tackling climate change, ‘unlocking a win-win outcome for the economy and for nature’.

In the recent Green Belt debate, Steve Reed stated: "Nature underpins all the Government’s missions. Without nature, there is no economy, no health, no food and no society. Nature is at crisis point. The Tories left Britain one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. A third of our bird and mammal species face extinction.”

If this Government means what it says about protecting nature, they cannot permit this proposal, which is in direct conflict with these aims.

The Hornsea Project Four offshore windfarm was consented last year amid a storm of protest from the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts who said the decision was ‘a damning indictment of the UK Government’s commitment to halting species decline, ignoring the consensus of evidence from leading scientists … Our globally important seabirds are in a precarious state. Decisions like this push already vulnerable species closer to the edge’.

We hope this government does not make the same mistakes in its enthusiasm for this ill-conceived project.

Otherwise, history will look back on this era as just as environmentally destructive in its own way as fossil fuels.