Update on Rampion 2
April 22, 2024
The National Park Authority is a statutory consultee on plans to extend the Rampion offshore wind farm. Vicki Colwell, Principal Planning Officer, shares an update.
The location of the South Downs National Park means that as well as serving a much larger wider population, it also plays host to and is impacted by large-scale infrastructure. This includes road, rail, offshore wind and associated onshore cable corridors.
Given the scale of these nationally-significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), they are not dealt with by us but through the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) with the final decision being made by the Secretary of State. However, as a local planning authority, we still take an active role in the process. One of the biggest schemes we are currently involved in is for the Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Project. Up to 90 turbines are proposed to be located in an area (approximately 24km at its nearest point) south of the National Park, with an onshore cable corridor connecting the proposed array to the National Grid at Bolney running through the National Park. The underground cable corridor would enter at Hammerpot/Patching and exit at Wiston.
The National Park Authority has made representations which state that whilst we support the principle of offshore wind and the need to bring forward renewable energy projects, the proposal would cause significant harm to seascape, landscape, important habitats and cultural heritage.
This harm is of a scale that has impacts wider than just the National Park – for example habitat connectivity and landscape-scale green infrastructure delivery.
We consider that further steps need to be taken to demonstrate that appropriate mitigation is being put in place to overcome these concerns, and where the harm cannot be overcome within the project boundaries, compensatory measures are provided.
The project is currently in the Examination period, which includes multiple written submissions from all the parties involved as well as a series of Issue Specific Hearings, the next round of which will take place later in May 2024. Officers have been engaging with the applicant throughout this period and will continue to do so, to identify appropriate mitigation options or projects that could help overcome some of our concerns.
The Examination period will end in August 2024, after which PINS will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, who will then make the final decision.
Further details can be found here