Rampion: Calling all Onshore Receptors

Hello and welcome to my blog. It's great to see you again.

The sun popped out last weekend and Shoreham Beach instantly reverted to holiday mode. Sadly, Tom and I couldn't join in the fun as we were marching around Sussex Wharf delivering leaflets on the forthcoming Military History Weekend and Passion for Shoreham.  He'd had enough of leafletting  by the time we reached the playground, so he unceremoniously abandoned me for the climbing frame.

This week is half term so I haven't been able to do a Vlog, but the intermission will give me time to respond to feedback and return with a re-vamped, re-vamp.

Well, this week, I promised to look at the potential impact of noise and vibration on us, Onshore Receptors, of the proposed Rampion Offshore Wind Farm. Thankfully, this assessment was a fifth the size of the visual impact assessment and it contained lots of comforting words like, "minor," "negligible," and "not significant."

The assessment looks at the three phases of the wind farm's development.

Phase 1: the construction phase. 

• Duration - 4 years.
• Vibration - negligible to major, meaning an intolerable level of vibration when the works are close to buildings.
• Noise - negligible to minor, meaning a short-term increase in existing noise levels. 

Phase 2: the operational phase.

• Duration - 20 - 50 years depending on the operators.
• Vibration - not considered. 
• Noise from the substation - moderate to major so noise control measures such as noise barriers or enclosures, would have to be incorporated into the substation design. 
• Noise from the wind turbines - negligible

The potential noise impact on residents of Twineham Court Farm, The Coach House, Coombe Farm, Coombe House, Dawe's Farm, Eastridge Lodge and Westridge Place, is specifically mentioned, so if you live nearby you may want to knock on their door and tell them that they're famous.

Phase 3: the decommissioning phase.

• Duration - unknown.
• Vibration - negligible to major, meaning an intolerable level of vibration when the works are close to buildings.
• Noise - negligible to minor, meaning a short-term increase in existing noise levels. 

Talking of noise, tomorrow the Adur Festival kicks off with music at Ropetackle and a cannon firing at our own Fort's Military History Weekend.

For the last few months, the Friends of Shoreham Fort have been preparing for their biggest annual event and last Sunday, (after being persuaded to come down from the climbing frame), Tom was put through his paces on the parade ground.

June weekends will be busy here on the Beach,  for after the Military History Weekend we've got  Beach Dreams, (8th - 9th June), followed by the Passion for Shoreham, (14th - 16th June). All the events are free so bring a picnic and come and join in.

Next week I'll cover the potential impact of Rampion on telecommunications, and if I get my make-up, lighting, background, content and feel right, they'll also be a Vlog.

Have a great week and see you next Tuesday.

Ta-ra for now.

Rampion: Potential visual impact on seascape, landscape and Visual Receptors.

Hello and welcome to my blog. It's great to see you again.

In this week's vidiblog, I talk about the potential visual impact of the Rampion offshore windfarm proposal on the area, focussing on Brighton, Worthing and Shoreham. The film is longer than normal so I've left out the outtakes this week.

Links:-

The Butterfly hunt at Mill Hill. Chris Corrigan was our group leader and he gives a light hearted account of our trip under the title Sunday 19th May 2013.

I quoted extensively from EON's Environmental Impact Assessment on seascape, landscape and visual impact.  It is a large document so here are some of the sections I referred to:-

12.3.68 (pages 12-22) gives details of what a viewer standing on Brighton beach could see of a turbine located 15 km away. The figures they give are based on a 3MW class wind turbine, the smallest one I mentioned in the film. The application is for 4MW and 7MW class wind turbines.

Table 12.13 (pages 12-81/3) gives more details of what could be seen from Brighton and Worthing sea front promenades.

12.5.43 (pages 12-94) summarises the potential visual impact on Shoreham, Southwick and Portslade.

This assessment is very detailed, so the conclusion may be a good place to start and then move back to  pages 12-93 to 12-99 which summarise the effects on each of the urban settlements, footpaths, trails and cycleways, South Downs National Park, beaches, cliffs, and boats.

I did not mention the potential visual impact of the navigation lights on the wind turbines as these have been assessed as negligible, (12.5.69).

This is the link to section 26 which also deals with landscape and visual impact.

If you are interested in finding out more but do not fancy trawling through the paperwork, EON have recommended a trip to Margate to get an idea of what Rampion could look like if planning permission was granted.

I'll see you next week for a brief look at the potential noise impact on us, the Onshore Receptors.

Ta-ra for now.

Rampion: Welcome Visual Receptors

Hello and welcome to my blog. I hope you liked last week's new look blog because I've got another one for you today.

Here are the links:-

The Hawth in Crawley.

Brighton Festival and Brighton Fringe.

Rampion Offshore Windfarm Proposal, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Sadly Horrible Histories' Four Georges song, "Born 2 Rule," has been taken down, so here's another link to the Horrible Histories site. If you scroll down to "watch clips" you can take your pick of the available songs. The Cleopatra song and the English Kings and Queens song are two of my favourites.

Next week I'll begin discussing the EIA in detail and will start with E.ON's assessment of the impact of Rampion on the landscape and seascape. The section is 111 pages long so wish me luck.

Well, it's time to go fellow Visual Receptor. I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday and thanks for dropping by.

Ta-ra for now.

Rampion Episode 3: Return of the Turbines

Hello and welcome to the re-vamped blog.This bit looks the same, but the next bit isn't.

The next bit is a vidiblog and I'd love to know what you think.

Here are the links I mentioned in the video.

Ropetackle Arts Centre: http://www.ropetacklecentre.co.uk and Thunkshop Cafe http://www.ropetacklecentre.co.uk/whats-on/thunkshop-cafe/.

The Shee; folk with a fizz: http://theshee.com

The marvellous Pam Ayres: http://www.pamayres.com

Final plans for the Rampion Offshore Windfarm Proposal:
http://www.eon-uk.com/downloads/1304_Rampion_Exhibition_Boards_(Final)_pdf(1).pdf.

It's a 16 page document, but you need only read pages six and seven to learn how the application has changed as a result of last years' public consultation.  If you prefer to see the final plans in print, they can be viewed at the following venues until 11 May 2013:

Adur District Council Offices, Ham Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex BN43 6PR

Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 4AH

Horsham Town Hall, North Street, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1RL

Mid-Sussex District Planning Offices, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1SS

Newhaven Town Council, 18 Fort Road, Newhaven, East Sussex BN9 9QE

Worthing Central Library, Richmond Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 1HD.

If you would like to comment on the final proposal, you will need to register as an interested party with the Planning Inspectorate at  http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/projects/south-east/rampion-offshore-wind-farm/. before midnight on 11th May 2013.

Remember this is NOT the only opportunity to comment on the proposal as EON explain;

"An additional eight week public consultation on the scheme begins from Wednesday 13 June, which will centre around the same proposals for the wind farm, but contain more detailed environmental information about the project. A statutory consultation period will also run simultaneously with the public consultation, involving statutory bodies, local authorities, county councils and landowners.. to view and download the draft sections of the Environmental Statement. Any response to the public consultation should be sent to in writing only, by email to rampion@eon.com or by post to FREEPOST RAMPION OFFSHORE WIND FARM, by no later than Wednesday 8 August."

Well, it's time to sign off now and do let me know what you think of the new look blog.

Ta-ra for now and see you next Tuesday

Happy Birthday Tom.

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Boy have I missed you!  I've been working solidly on my book recently, so it's a joy to wave goodbye to World War Two and pop back to 2013.

I've returned just in time for Tom's 8th Birthday.

He's been counting down since 1st April, so I shouldn't have been surprised when he bounced into our bedroom at dawn this morning. I managed to explain that he wasn't born until 9.15pm and therefore could'nt have his presents yet, but speedily back-tracked when I realised that that would mean he'd be asleep when he became 8 and would wake up the day after his Birthday. That was too mean, even for half past ridiculous in the morning.

After a forceful "negotiation," we agreed on presents at breakfast. He went back to bed but I was so wide awake I came in to write this blog.

So Happy Birthday Tom, sleep well. And Happy Birthday to everyone whose Birthday is today.

Next week I'll be unveiling a different style of blog.  It's going to be bold, exciting, and a leap into the dark.

So have a great week and see you next Tuesday for the unveiling of the new look Life's a (Shoreham) beach.

Ta ra for now.