Consultation event for new offshore wind farm

A community consultation event for Hornsea Project Three will be held at Reepham Town Hall, Church Street, on Thursday 2 March from 1.30–5.30 pm.
 

 
This is a new offshore wind farm that Denmark-based Dong Energy is proposing to develop in the North Sea, more than 120 km off the North Norfolk coast.
 
Hornsea Project Three is currently investigating a project area of 696 km2. If built out to full capacity (2.4 GW), this could be the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
 
However, the onshore cable route could potentially pass through the Reepham district in a line stretching from the coast at Weybourne and possibly through some of the following: Saxthorpe, Corpusty, Heydon, Salle, Reepham, Brandiston, Little Witchingham, Lenwade, Alderford and Attlebridge, and then to the west and south of Norwich to the electricity substation next to Dunston Hall.
 
In late October/early November, Dong Energy held its first round of community consultation events in six locations across Norfolk. These events were an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about the project, ask questions and comment on plans at that time.
 
“During and after the events, we were able to capture a lot of useful information from people who know the area best, covering a range of topics including traffic management, planned developments, local wildlife and sensitive areas,” said Dong Energy. “Understanding what areas are most important for the local community is key, and the feedback gathered at these consultation events will help us to shape our proposal going forward.”
 
Based on the feedback received at the first set of events and progress in the development of the proposal, Dong Energy will run an additional round of consultation events in early 2017, including Reepham, Weybourne, Norwich, Weston Longville, Corpusty, Holt and Swardeston.
 
The company is currently undertaking onshore geotechnical and geophysical investigations at potential cable landing areas. During the period leading up to the Development Consent Order submission in 2018, the current indicative search area will be refined further to a final 80-metre-wide corridor for cable installation purposes.
 
Over the next 12 months, Dong Energy will be undertaking Phase 2 environmental surveys within the refined onshore cable corridor as part of its route assessment work, looking at various species and habitat sites. The project needs to get the necessary information on ecology, soils, landscape, archaeology, land use and drainage before the project can decide where to site the substation/HVAC booster station/cable route.
 

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