Bradwell-on-Sea Community Update – 9th November 2020

We recently wrote to people living in the Bradwell-on-Sea parish with an update on the project. This update includes information on how the project is working to keep in touch with the local community, details of current site and marine works, and information on how we are following new Covid-19 regulations from the government.

You can read the update below.

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At Bradwell B we are continuing to work hard on developing our proposals ahead of consulting with you once again. It’s a long process before we even get to the point of being ready to submit a planning application to the UK Planning Inspectorate, and as such it’s important that we stay in touch with you each step of the way. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has meant that we are still not able to meet in person, as we would prefer, so we plan to write a little more often in the coming weeks and months to make sure that we keep you informed about what we’re doing.

New ways we’re staying in touch

In October, we hosted – online for now – our first Community Forum, at which various community organisations were represented. They heard about the feedback we received in our Stage One consultation which ran earlier this year and were then able to ask questions of the analysis experts and the Bradwell B team. If you’d like to know more, the notes and the Forum’s terms of reference are available at our website, bradwellb.co.uk/communityforum.

We are also reintroducing telephone and video call surgeries. Following their use in our Stage One consultation, we wanted to offer these once again, this time throughout November. They provide an opportunity to speak directly with the Bradwell B team and ask questions you may have about the project. The sessions, which can be by phone or video call, can be booked by visiting bradwellb.co.uk or calling 01621 451 451.

We also regularly send a newsletter to all homes in Bradwell, as well as to a much wider circulation. We hope you received our October edition, but if not, you can find it along with other updates (including this letter) under the News section of our website, bradwellb.co.uk/news. If you’d like us to re-send you a copy, please get in touch.

Site and marine works

We continue to undertake investigations of the site, as part of our environmental impact assessment. This is an important part of our work, allowing us to better understand the local ecology and how our project might affect it. We use the resulting information to refine our proposals to minimise any impact or compensate for it, or even to provide a benefit, for example through habitat creation, landscaping or creating a biodiversity net gain.

You might see various members of the Bradwell B team walking over the site and other nearby agricultural properties as they collect information. Similarly, we have vessels undertaking survey work in the estuary and, from time-to-time, you might see members of our team out taking samples for the same reason.

In undertaking any works, we always speak to the relevant authorities and landowners to ensure all necessary permissions are in place before conducting activities.  If you ever have any questions about what we’re doing on site, please do get in touch.

The impact of the new Government Covid-19 regulations

We are very mindful of the health and safety of our neighbours, our team, and visitors to the site, so we have in place stringent procedures to keep people safe. This includes measures to protect people against Covid-19, taking into account the new restrictions from the Government.

Construction activity is permitted within the regulations, but we only allow people to work at the site if the work can’t be done remotely. Our workers are required to certify that they are not experiencing symptoms, and that they have not been in recent contact with anyone who has been either experiencing symptoms or diagnosed with the virus. They also have their temperature checked on arrival before they are allowed to work on site.

We insist on measures including travelling in separate vehicles, wearing face coverings when in proximity to others, and other PPE, and maintaining social distancing where possible.

How to contact us

In addition to the ways we’ve described above, we welcome phone calls, letters, and emails whenever you would like to get in touch, and we are always happy to hear your views and answer your questions.