VILLAGERS in Westbury have welcomed news that plans to develop a saltmarsh nearby have been shelved.

Energy company EDF had proposed to create marshes on both sides of the Severn – including Rodley – as part of the development of the Hinckley C nuclear plant in Somerset.

The company has gone back to proposing an acoustic fish deterrent at Hinckley Point C, citing an improvement in the technology.

EDF had drawn up the environmental schemes as an alternative to their plan to install a system to scare fish away from the site.

Cllr Simon Phelps, the Chair of Westbury Parish and who represents the area on the Forest Council, said villagers in Rodley are pleased with the news.

He said he was astonished EDF had put forward the salt marsh alternative having been through the planning process.

“It’s a great relief to local residents who would have been affected by it,” he said.

“It was astounding that EDF could turn around years after their plans for the new power station went through the planning process and was accepted by government planners and then claim the equipment was not suitable for use.

“It was what they specified and put forward in their plans.”

EDF said in a statement they have written to communities around the Severn Estuary to tell them that they are pausing work on proposals for new areas of salt marsh while they work to establish the suitability of a new acoustic fish deterrent technology.

The salt marsh was intended to be compensation for the project not installing an acoustic fish deterrent outlined in our 2013 planning consent, they said.

“Our power station is the first on the Severn Estuary to have fish protection measures built into its design,” the statement said.

“We have built low velocity intake heads and we are building a fish return system.

“However, installing, maintaining and operating 280 loudspeakers in fast-flowing and muddy waters would have posed an unacceptable safety risk for divers.

“Now an innovative technology, not available when the consent was granted, means it’s possible to deploy an acoustic fish deterrent without the need for divers.

“Pioneered in the South West and used in fishing fleets around the world, the technology uses electronic transducers to target specific fish species with high-frequency sound.

“The efficiency of the system means it can be precisely tuned and installed and serviced from the surface. Because it uses much less power than a loudspeaker system, a mains power supply is not needed.

“We are now working with experts to provide the scientific data to underpin the case for using it at Hinkley Point C and as a result have announced a pause to all development work on the creation of salt marsh in the area.”

The company’s announcement of a pause to the salt marsh plan was also welcomed at Arlingham and Littleton-on-Severn on the other side of the river in South Gloucestershire and at Kingston Seymour in Somerset where similar salt marsh schemes had been proposed.