Bradwell B’s Stage One consultation closes

CONSULTATION SEES SIGNIFICANT ENGAGEMENT FROM LOCAL COMMUNITIES ON STAGE ONE PROPOSALS

The first stage of consultation on the proposed new nuclear power station at Bradwell closed on 1st July.

After an extended four-month process, over 1,600 people and organisations have provided feedback on the proposals.

Despite the challenge of Covid-19 restrictions, which curtailed planned face-to-face events, thousands of people have engaged with the Bradwell B team since the consultation launched on 4th March, attending the initial events, visiting Bradwell B’s website and virtual exhibition, and by participating in telephone surgeries. To help people access information on the consultation the Bradwell team sent detailed materials by post to over 50,000 homes local to the proposed site.

If built, Bradwell B will provide secure, reliable, low carbon energy for around 4 million homes for at least 60 years and would play a key role in supporting the Government’s aim for net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The project would create tens of thousands of jobs during construction, provide at least 1,200 apprenticeships, and 900 permanent jobs during operation throughout the power station’s 60-year lifetime. Billions of pounds would be invested in the local and regional economies, with local businesses forming an integral part of the supply chain.

Alan Raymant, Bradwell B CEO, said: “I would like to thank everyone who took the time to engage with the proposals, ask questions, fill out the survey, or write to us over the last four months. It has been an important opportunity for the project team to talk to members of the community and it will really help us improve the plans for Bradwell B.

“This is a major project for Essex, bringing significant opportunities, and the response rate has been high especially when compared to other similar projects. We’re now going to take some time to review and consider all the feedback received from local authorities, parish councils, community groups and members of the public, as we develop our proposals.”

There will be additional stages of consultation over the next few years before an application for a development consent order is submitted. This first stage was non-statutory, delivered at an early phase of the project, to enable feedback from stakeholders and the local communities to be taken into account in the next stage of development. The Bradwell B Project will provide an update on its proposals in a later statutory stage of consultation.