Farmers warn over Hinkley Point C's saltmarsh plan

Bosses at Somerset’s new nuclear power station are proposing creating new saltmarsh habitats along the Severn to compensate for the number of fish that will die by being sucked into the power station’s cooling systems. But this means communities along the river and estuary face losing hundreds of acres of farmland.

In Kingston Seymour in North Somerset, the plans to turn 1,500 acres of prime agricultural land between Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon into salt marshes have caused outcry. Farmers, who were left in “extreme distress,” after finding out their land was under threat blocked access to wildlife surveys for the plans in protest on Tuesday (October 8).

A public meeting with EDF — the energy company building Hinkley Point C — is set to be held in Kingston Seymour Village Hall on October 14 at 7.45pm.

Farmers across the affected area have urged EDF to drop the plan.

Young farmer Sophie Cole of the farm at Wharf House said: “I am a third-generation young farmer in Kingston Seymour and all my land and property is directly impacted by this proposal.

“No amount of money can compensate me for the loss of my livelihood and exciting plans for the future.”

Peter and Karen Stuckey of Channel View Farm said: “We have a thriving commercial business which provides employment and services to local people. 

“We also have agricultural land and several dwellings which provides much needed local housing. 

“This proposal will destroy our home and livelihood and is causing us a great deal of worry and anxiety.”

They added: “This will destroy everything we have built up over the last 50 years.”

A map outlining the area that could be turned into salt marshes. (Image: EDF)

Meanwhile, at Dowlais Farm, Kathrin and David Kirk said: “We have rebuilt Dowlais Farm from near derelict to a great family home (grade II listed) as well as a thriving campsite and two holiday cottages.

“We purchased the farm seven years ago from North Somerset Council and have invested everything we have both financially and physically into this business and built it up from scratch.

“This proposal would destroy our livelihood and our home. It would also destroy wildlife habitats for otters, bats, badgers, foxes, deer as well as birds such as owls, kestrels and buzzards who all nest in the trees on our land.”

Dan Kostyla of Sea Wall Farm, another young farmer, said: “My family have been farming here for generations — I am fourth generation — and have invested heavily in the farm business.  We have a large dairy and beef farm business.

“All of this will be lost from the food chain and our business will be unviable/destroyed.” 

Another young farmer, Dan Kostyla of Sea Wall Farm said: “My family have been farming here for generations — I am fourth generation — and have invested heavily in the farm business.  We have a large dairy and beef farm business.

“All of this will be lost from the food chain and our business will be unviable/destroyed.” 

EDF said it is obligated to make environmental improvements such as salt marshes to compensate for the power station’s impact on fish populations, which the energy company said would be limited.

It added that the salt marshes provide breeding grounds for fish, as well as food and shelter for other animals, and claimed they could help prevent flooding.

A public consultation will be held on any plans before they go ahead.

Andrew Cockroft, head of stakeholder relations at Hinkley Point C, said: “We have listened carefully to concerns and suggestions made during our consultation and are now exploring changes to our proposals.

“Hinkley Point C is one of Britain’s biggest acts in the fight against climate change and its operation will provide significant benefits for the environment.

“The development of saltmarsh habitat will boost this further — helping support fish populations and minimise the small environmental impact of operating the new power station.”

A salt marsh was first proposed at Pawlett Hams near Bridgwater but, after major local opposition, the plan was dropped and EDF began looking at locations further from the power station to locate salt marshes.

Arlingham and — across the river — Rodley in Gloucestershire and Littleton-upon-Severn in South Gloucestershire were all proposed as locations. 

EDF bosses were quizzed over their plans for Arlingham at a public meeting in the village hall on the peninsula last Monday (October 7), in a similar meeting to that planned at Kingston Seymour Village Hall this Monday. But EDF’s bid to create salt marshes has not just been a matter for village halls.

On Wednesday morning (October 9), Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster saw MPs debate the power station’s salt marsh plans.

Speaking in the debate, the local Wells and Mendip Hills MP Tessa Munt said: “If the EA intends to breach the Kingston Seymour seawall, that will increase the level of flooding. If it intends to build up the seawall, it will not create any more saltmarsh, so I am really very unsure about this.

“I do not understand how it is that we can suddenly be looking at creating saltmarsh and dismissing the number of fish that are going to be killed, when that was a critical factor when Hinkley Point C was being discussed.”

Nuclear fishing

44 tonnes of fish a year are expected to die at Hinkley Point C.

Nuclear power stations need a massive amount of water for cooling purposes.

This is why the Severn and Bristol Channel has been a major location for Britain’s nuclear industry, with nuclear power stations being located at Berkeley, Oldbury, and at Hinkley Point over the decades.

But pumping large amounts water from the Bristol Channel into the bowels of the nuclear power station will mean some fish will die.

A mesh drum filter in the water intake pipes will filter out many fish, returning them to the water through a separate pipe. But 44 tonnes of — mainly smaller — fish will still be killed each year.

EDF has argued that this amount will only have a “negligible impact” on fish stocks. The energy company said that fishing village Newlyn in Cornwall landed over 1,700 tonnes of fish just in July this year.

Breaking it down by species, EDF says that it will only be about 22 salmon a year that die at the power station, and 47 Twaite Shad.

Originally, EDF planned to use underwater speakers to keep fish away from the inlets. But the company said this would mean 280 speakers would be needed to make a noise louder than a jumbo jet taking off round the clock.

The speakers would also be “dangerous to install” underwater far out into the Bristol Channel, EDF warned, and would have an unknown impact on marine life such as seals and dolphins.

EDF have pointed out that Hinkley Point C would be the first of the Bristol Channel’s power stations to have any fish protection measures in place, and added that over the decades when previous nuclear power stations have taken water from the channel, there had been no impact on fish stocks. But it is required to make environmental improvements to compensate for the fish.

The energy company will be improving an additional weir on the River Wye to help Salmon migrate, but the main focus on the environmental improvements is creating more salt marsh. The energy company says that salt marshes are a proven way to increase biodiversity, filter clean water, and lock away carbon.

But it means flooding land which is already home to other wildlife — and to families who have farmed it for generations.