The report has been submitted as the Examining Authority closes its examination process on 28 March. They will now write a report and recommendation, to be sent to the Secretary of State, who is expected to make the final decision whether to approve the project or not, later in 2023.
Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Environment, said:
“I previously stated that this was the poorest application I have dealt with to date. There has been some positive progress with the applicant, but unfortunately the proposals still do not meet the standards we, and local communities, would expect from a project on this scale.
“From monitoring ecology, to HGV access, we have submitted over 60 pages of comments on the proposal, the majority of which details how it falls short of acceptable levels.
“Suffolk County Council is fully behind the Government’s ambitions for a low carbon future, and we have our own Net Zero by 2030 target. But as it stands, this application is not the answer, which would permanently change a unique landscape shaped by agriculture and horse racing.”
Areas of concern for the councils include:
- The geographic scale of the proposal which will permanently transform the landscape
- The impact on local communities of the 24 month construction period
- Sunnica’s serious shortcomings in terms of both evidence and methodology
- Sunnica’s presentation of proposal which makes it, and impacts on local communities, unclear
- Mitigation proposals do not appear to be tailored to the local context
