We call on DESNZ to create a central body that adopts a strategic framework to assess projects collectively and ensure they proceed without environmental harm. We believe energy project cumulative impacts are a big issue, and a body is needed to coordinate competing schemes and explore alternatives.

For example, within a 10-mile radius in East Suffolk, multiple major energy NSIPs are underway or proposed—including Sizewell C, the Friston Energy Hub, EA1N, EA2 and Sea Link and LionLink interconnectors—which are causing significant disruption for many residents. Yet there is no central body that assesses their combined effects on communities and the environment, the impacts on each project’s viability and delivery, nor why onshore siting is pursued when offshore alternatives exist. This should change.