Suffolk Conservatives have outlined their opposition to the new Redmere Wind Farm proposal, which could see up to 31 turbines, with a maximum tip height of 220 metres, built across Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Conservatives are calling on the current administration at Suffolk County Council to ensure the concerns of residents and businesses are properly heard throughout the process.
The scale of the project would have a significant impact on the countryside and landscape across the three counties, while potentially affecting the environment and communities living in the surrounding areas.
The project is intended to be considered as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), meaning the final decision would ultimately rest with the Government, limiting the formal role that local authorities and communities can play in the decision-making process.
Cllr Joe Mason, Deputy Group Leader and Shadow Spokesperson for Highways, Transport Strategy & Property, said:
“We are facing another major energy infrastructure project that could have a direct impact on Suffolk residents, businesses and our countryside. Local people must be given a proper opportunity to understand the proposals, raise their concerns and have their views genuinely considered. We will be pressing for a meaningful and transparent consultation throughout this process.
“This project is another hammer blow for West Suffolk and East Cambridgeshire communities who are already dealing with the nearby Solar Farm. This vast scheme will take around 2,000 acres of agricultural land out of food production. Now this new wind farm will hit the same area and both will have serious safety and security implications for RAF Mildenhall and Lakenheath and the USAF personnel and aircraft stationed there.
“We now rely on the new administration to ensure Suffolk residents and businesses are properly represented. Given the scale of this project, I think it is only reasonable that opposition councillors have the opportunity to properly discuss the proposals and raise residents’ concerns with officers. While the Reform Leader has previously announced restrictions on questions from opposition councillors, this project requires proper consultation, scrutiny and discussion, and councillors must be able to do the job residents elected us to do.
“We’ve heard a lot of tough talk from the new Reform administration on opposing large energy projects in our countryside but they’ve yet to be tested. Soon they will need to approve or refuse the battery safety management plan for the nearby vast Sunnica Solar Farm. If they approve that plan against all the evidence of safety risks, we’ll know it’s all talk.”
Suffolk Conservatives will continue to demand proper consultation and transparency throughout this process. Residents and businesses who could be affected by the proposal deserve to have their concerns heard and their voices properly represented.
