John Grant, SOG President
Time to show our love for Minsmere Noisy neighbours can turn life into a nightmare. But just imagine the horrors of having a neighbour that’s not just noisy but nuclear – and downright damaging too. That’s what our beloved RSPB Minsmere is having to contemplate as the French giant EDF Energy and the Chinese nuclear power group CGN advance their plans for a colossal, £18billion (perhaps more?) doublereactor Sizewell C development on the very doorstep of the world-famous, much-loved and internationally important nature reserve. It’s a prospect all of us who cherish the grand old RSPB flagship site - a spiritual home for many - will find unthinkable. Surely, any adverse impact on Minsmere would have been categorically ruled out as an immovable red line at the very outset
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of this long and tortuous process, wouldn’t it? Surely, there would have been early cast-iron guarantees that the beautiful biodiversity hotspot of Minsmere, with its 5,000-plus species, its invaluable ability to connect so many people with nature and its unique place in countless thousands of hearts, would remain sacrosanct? Well, surely we all have the right to think so, to demand so. But no. No such assurances have been offered, even at this juncture when the third - and final - public consultation is under way. Certainly, there have been hours and hours of discussions involving EDF, which is leading on Sizewell C, and RSPB representatives. But no assurances. The RSPB, and indeed all of us who love and treasure Minsmere, could be forgiven for fearing the worst.
Photo: David Borderick
Marsh Harrier
