Say 'Yes' to Dungeness

This petition calls for the UK Government to support the building of a new nuclear power station at Dungeness in Kent, alongside the existing Dungeness A and B power stations.

Dungeness B station puts around £20 million a year into the local economy, an almost irreplaceable level of investment.

The Secretary of State for Energy Chris Huhne, has stated that the preferred sites for new nuclear power stations would be alongside existing sites and where there is strong local support; Dungeness would certainly pass both of these tests. So why have we not yet been given the go ahead.? It is simply because of the objection of Natural England that to allow a development within the Dungeness to Pett Level Special Protected Area would contravene the EU Habitats Directive. They are putting the welfare of the vegetated shingle above everyone else. Natural England have taken this view despite the fact that the development site is on land largely disturbed by the building of the existing nuclear stations, and is less that 1% of the entire protected area. I do not believe that this development could be said to disturb the integrity of the whole site, something that the regulations require them to consider. In other countries development has been allowed in such protected areas; one example of which was the German government’s support for the expansion of the airport at Baden-Baden.

Natural England have also recently announced that they would like to expand the special protected area around Dungeness by a further 2,500 hectares. Given the development site for the new power station is only around 50 hectares if this expansion of the protected area were to go ahead, that would surely be an adequate compensation.

At a time when the country is looking for investment from the private sector and overseas into our economy, and we need to find new sources of clean and readily available energy, a new power station at Dungeness would also seem to be in the national interest. It’s proximity to London and important location within the South East means that transmission costs for the station will be lower than from other sites. Industry experts also believe that a new power station at Dungeness could be one of the first built and supplying energy. For the long term success of our local economy, and the energy needs of our country taking forward the proposal for a new power station is the right thing to do.
So I hope you will join with me, and say ‘yes to Dungeness’.

Damian Collins, Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe.