Here are some points you could raise; you can use your own, and it’s essential to do that if you feel strongly about it. You don’t have to cover everything in too much detail. The time for detail is in the hearings, which will happen during the 6-month examination period.
If your business or organisation, your mental and/or physical health is at risk, or if anything affects you, a member of your family, colleagues, and friends, make sure you highlight this.
Points to consider (bold entries are submitted by visitors to the site):
Proposed route is unsustainable and will adversely impact local communities with an increase in HGV’s on already congested routes. The HGV’s will also put at risk other road users including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders on secondary routes throughout the construction phase.
Everything about the proposal is ill-considered: the route, the effect on the environment, businesses and communities but, worst of all, is the manner in which the scheme has been pushed through without consultation with those directly concerned: disgracefully undemocratic and underhand.
At the east end of the cable corridor, they are proposing to utilise Clifton and Lea Marshes to approach Penwortham. This area was deemed unsuitable to use for the King’s Coastal Path, a National Infrastructure Project, due to the disruption it would cause. But somehow, digging it up for the cables is OK. This cannot be justified.
Food security as the cable corridor will “spoil” prime farming land for 20-30 years.
Concerns regarding the effect on tourism, which is a massive income generator for our coastal towns. The extra traffic, noise pollution and impact on wildlife and the aesthetic view of our coastline.
Long term effects on physical health, particularly in children, when inhaling airborne dust particles brought about by industrial construction – is this going to increase the likelihood of worsening asthma or increasing the incidence of respiratory conditions? If so, what are M&M going to do to support the local hospital/health delivery systems in managing this potential increase in numbers?
How will the cabling affect Blackpool Airport’s plans in building a new terminal? The airport has a long history in flying, aircraft building, flight training (including aerobatics) and historic events such as Amy Johnson. Also there are some key established Flight Training schools at Blackpool Airport which will impact on local companies and the airport itself! What about the impact on Blackpool Airport as this brings so much income to the loacal area Blackpool and The Fylde? Lytham Festival has become a major event every year and brings in so much income. With the local traffic being severely disrupted by the planned routes in building the wind farms, this will majorly impact the local traffic to and from the festival, again affecting tourism and trade. This is even more key as Cuffe & Taylor would like to increase the audience capacity going forwards.
Harm to landscape character or scenic value: If the proposed substations are located in the green belt or greenfield areas and create a visual intrusion on the rural or coastal landscape, this could be a significant factor.
Impact on tourism: As Fylde and nearby areas like Lytham St Annes rely heavily on tourism, industrial infrastructure could reduce the area’s appeal, causing economic harm.
Beach closures in St.Annes will affect people’s mental health due to lack of access. Likewise, the people who use that stretch of beach to launch their watersports craft and participate in watersports there will have almost a year of disruption over the landfall part of the project.
Running the cables on either side of the considerable care home in St. Annes dunes, resulting in work from 7 am until 7 pm, six days a week, is nothing short of cruel. Imagine if your parents or grandparents were in that care home; maybe that will be the last memory they have.
Equine businesses will be massively affected because of the noise, pollution and EMF, which horses are very sensitive to. The planned route affects a number of these businesses.
The airport will have flight disruption for years as there will be heavy vehicle and construction activity for the landfall section of the project and the start of the cable corridor and flights will not be permitted while that activity is going on.
I strongly object to industrialising greenbelt land, especially when there are routes that would utilise brownbelt land and actually redevelop and benefit an area. Instead, we see a greenbelt, farmland, businesses, and livelihoods at risk, let alone delicate wildlife habitats that will not recover from this.
One of M&Ms primary objectives of this plan is ‘Delivering much-needed investment and securing construction and operations jobs in the UK’, which translates into “We want a massive construction project so the biggest upheaval and amount of work means more money for us at the expense of the Fylde”. We should not be made to suffer this destruction just for the developer’s profits when there are quicker, better, smarter routes to take.
A concern is also the unconsidered effect on morale and productivity of workers commuting in and out of BAE Systems in Warton working on projects critical to the nation’s security. If key milestones are not met, our nuclear deterrent may not be operational when it is needed, and our national security is therefore put at risk by these plans.
The compounds’ noise, dust and light pollution and the work involved with the cable corridor, 6 days a week, 7 am until 7 pm, means road closures and/or traffic control from extra traffic lights and compound entrances, meaning travel across the Fylde will be severely hampered. Emergency vehicles could also be affected; regardless of the studies M&M have done, they are not familiar with the road networks across the Fylde, and a genuinely overarching view has not been considered.
The compounds and the work involved with the cable corridor’s dust pollution, 6 days a week, 7 am until 7 pm, means people’s conditions, like asthma and other breathing conditions, will be severely exacerbated.
In St. Annes, new football pitches for the area’s children to play on will be ripped up. How is that good for the children’s physical and mental well-being?
Regarding the substations themselves. Greenbelt land covering over 50 football pitches in size will be industrialised when brown belt land is available. The government’s National Planning Policy Framework, specifically Chapter 13, states this should not happen. Even with the point around special circumstances regarding energy from renewable sources because the plan, on the whole, is ridiculously out of proportion in the land and livelihoods it destroys when there is a quicker, much cheaper, much faster route that could be taken, the special circumstances should not be allowed to be a factor in this case.
Precedent for further development: Approval could encourage similar projects, leading to urban sprawl and a gradual loss of green belt protections.
Constant operational noise: Converter substations generate background noise from cooling fans and transformers, which can affect the quality of life for residents living nearby.
Light pollution: Security lighting and operational lighting at night could affect nearby homes and wildlife habitats.
Local roads cannot accommodate the intense construction activity, creating unacceptable disruption to residents. The proposed attempts at mitigation will still result in significant disturbance with adverse effects right across South Fylde and impact on tourism and local commerce even when not adjacent to the construction sites. Once established, things might be expected to improve, but then return when the site is decommissioned at a later date. Further, there is no guarantee that the projects will run concurrently, extending the periods of disruption.
Once the substations, which should not be built so close to so many residential homes, are built, they will hum, 24/7, further impacting the mental health of those around them. Imagine a school child sitting at their desk listening to buzzing every day.
In Quakers Wood and two adjacent fields, (the proposed location of the Morecambe substation), there are 50 to 60 bodies which were buried (mainly without headstones) from the 1680’s to the 1800’s.
The sand dunes at Lytham St Annes are a location for one of the rarest lizards in the UK. They are highly protected have an even higher protection status than great crested newts and bats which have their own planning conditions.
The farmland where the proposed substations are to be sited has a high concentration of ponds. The Fylde is very flat and wet, so it is an ideal habitat for Great Crested Newts. They have been found recently in the area when a planning application recently was made for a 79 acre solar installation in an adjacent field. Additionally there is a nationally significant population of critically endangered black tailed godwits on the Newton Marsh SSSI which is just a few metres away from the proposed substations.
The route is also planned to go through a ‘biological heritage site’ of Lytham Moss which comprises 283 hectares of farmland on the Lytham Moss between Heyhouses, Long Wood and Peel. The site is of ornithological importance as a winter feeding ground for flocks of pink-footed geese and whooper swans.
Although Morecambe and Morgan did a presentation on 8 Dec 2022 for the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Enterprise Board, this did not equate to an adequate consultation on the route chosen. Both Fylde Borough Council and Lancashire County Council refused to issue an Adequacy of Consultation Notice in autumn 2024. M&M has not followed these rules: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/offshore-transmission-network-review#community-engagement
The Fylde is low and flat and already subject to flooding. The 30km long concrete corridor could additionally cause a significant impact on localised flooding problems and make matters far worse. Drilling a under the sand dunes, will weaken the current coastal defences.
There will be substantial % increases in HGV traffic on our residential roads as well as motorways. This is unsafe for pedestrians, horse riders, and cyclists who use these roads because they live there. And this will have an adverse effect on tourism, emergency services and people commuting.
Two solar farms are under consideration by the Fylde Borough Council, and these, along with M&M plans, are all being considered individually and independently of each other. Who is responsible for the overall coordination and mitigating the cumulative effect of these initiatives?
The plans go directly against the Fylde Local Plan which can be seen here – https://new.fylde.gov.uk/resident/planning/planning-policy-local-plan/adopted-local-plan-to-2032/
The Planning Inspectorate should reject the application if the developer fails to explore nearby brownfield sites.
The applicant’s submission does not demonstrate adequate consideration of key planning policies and legislative requirements, including the Local Development Framework (LDF), the National Planning Policy Statement (NPS), and the Electricity Act 1989. These documents require the Secretary of State to promote efficient, economical, and sustainable development. The DCO process is designed to ensure that development proposals meet these requirements, contributing positively to economic growth, community welfare, and environmental protection.
Throughout this process, M&M’s communication has been beyond poor; weeks to respond, if at all, and when the responses come, they are always unhelpful, saying it’s something they do not know or cannot say or pointing you at a huge document that turns out not to answer the question. They have been intentionally obstructive.
These plans put Farmers’ livelihoods at risk; high-quality farmland takes 20-30 years to recover, and this disruption will make their businesses untenable. The way they have been treated has been disgusting.
If you have additional points that might help people with their registration to have their say, send it us using this form and we’ll add them to the list.
Register to have your say regarding the National Infrastructure Project.
After this stage, the Examining Authority will ask questions about the proposed development. The applicant and anyone who has registered to have their say can get involved and submit comments at each deadline in the timetable. You can also attend hearings that may take place. This stage takes up to 6 months.
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