Worried villagers near Horsham launch fight against Rampion wind farm substation

Rampion 2 offshore wind farm are proposing to site the substation on a 15-acre site just outside Cowfold and also propose to install 50-metre wide cabling beneath the countryside.

But residents have now formed a campaign group – Cowfold v Rampion – in a bid to halt the project.

They maintain they have ‘no objections to clean and renewable energy’ but say they are concerned about Rampion’s proposals on the local environment. They say that there has been inadequate consultation on the proposals and accuse Rampion of ‘dirty tactics’ in trying to push the project through.

A spokesperson for the campaign group said: “Hardly anyone in the village of Cowfold or the surrounding area knew anything about it. Some villagers received a leaflet through their doors but describe it as very vague and misleading, as it didn’t mention the word ‘substation’ and it looked like junk mail.”

The group is now calling for a public consultation process to be re-opened to enable villagers to have their say.

They say that the stretch of road where the substation is proposed is a ‘notorious accident hotspot’ and is already highly congested with excess traffic causing ‘worrying high levels of air pollution .’

The spokesperson added: “It is estimated that the project would take up to six years to complete and would involve temporary traffic lights, diversions along narrow country lanes, and a significant increase in traffic including – and these are very conservative estimates – over 8,000 extra HGVs and many thousands of ancillary vehicles.

"With over 18,000 vehicles already using this stretch of road every day and over 50 accidents in the last few years, local people are concerned that the additional vehicles and disruption will result in traffic at a standstill, dangerous levels of air pollution, and an increase in serious accidents, with worries about how emergency vehicles will be able to get through.”

There are also concerns about the impact on the local ecosystem and the effect on birds and wildlife in the surrounding area.

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The Cowfold v Rampion group say they believe that there are alternative sites that could be looked at which would cause far less disruption and would have a much less damaging impact on the environment.

Concerns about Rampions’ plans were first raised last year by Cowfold landowner Ralph Dickson after it was revealed that Rampion planned to install underground cabling across his land – wrecking his own proposals to plant a new ‘royal woodland’ on the site.

He had spent more than18 months planning to plant thousands of trees on 70 acres of his land at Ridgelands Farm in Kent Street, Cowfold, as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy project to mark the late monarch’s Platinum Jubilee.

Rampion itself says that it has conducted wide public consultations over its proposals. Rampion 2 development manager Chris Tomlinson said: “Since early 2021, Rampion 2 has developed and delivered three consultations on its project proposals, a Non-Statutory Consultation and two Statutory Consultations in accordance with the Planning Act

2008.

“Section 47 of the Act requires that Rampion 2 carry out Statutory consultations in accordance with the provisions set out in a Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC). The SoCC sets out how, when, about what and with whom we intend to consult and what promotional measures will be used to raise awareness of the consultation.

"Two versions of the SoCC were consulted (one for each Statutory Consultation) with the relevant Local Planning authorities, in this case with Horsham District Council and West Sussex County Council, to ensure it meets those local authorities’ requirements.”