Therese has hit out at the decision taken by East Suffolk Council’s Green/Lib Dem Cabinet this week to duck out of Sea Link discussions and instead delegate all authority to council officers.
At the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday the 2nd of January 2024, councillors agreed that the Head of Planning would have full delegated authority on the SeaLink project rather than the Cabinet or the Cabinet Member for Energy and Environment making decisions on the Council's involvement themselves. In her recent response to the Sea Link consultation, Therese described the proposals as ‘totally unacceptable when alternatives are available’.
Therese said: “I was astonished to see that East Suffolk Cabinet members have agreed this week to effectively disengage from representing residents’ views on this highly controversial project. Instead of blaming process and the ‘short timeframes’ for responding to consultations, they should be pulling out all the stops and arranging special meetings if needed.”
Therese added: “For my part, I’m strongly urging National Grid Electricity Transmissions to look for alternative landfall sites away from the Suffolk coast. This could be into the Isle of Grain, as is being explored for Nautilus or Bradwell. There is absolutely no need to deviate power generated offshore into Suffolk if its final destination is the South East. The recent National Grid commitment to look at offshore alternatives to pylons across East Anglia reinforces the point that power needs to come ashore closer to the population it is intended to serve.”
