Government and council to join forces for Aquind appeal
PORTSMOUTH City Council has been confirmed as an interested party in the Aquind interconnector appeal, its leader has confirmed.
Councillor Gerald VernonJackson said the decision would mean council lawyers would join the government in defending its decision to refuse permission for the £1.2bn interconnector proposed between the city and France.
'We will be in court to support the government and provide the local side to the case anddemonstratewhyitshould notgoahead,'hesaid.'Itmeans that local issues will be fully considered by the court.
'It'sreallygoodnewsthatwe can have that say in opposing Aquind and represent all the viewsofpeoplelivinginthecity and reflects the hard work of our planning officers and lawyers to make sure it happens.’
The company’s bid to build landcablesatEastney,buildan interconnector at Lovedean – and dig up large swatches of Portsmouthtoconnectthetwo – was turned down by the government in January, to much celebration.
The council has been set a deadline of July 25 for submitting paperwork required as part of the case and it is expected that a two-day hearing willtakeplace'severalmonths' after that.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng refused permission forthecableinJanuary,saying the company had not properly considered 'more appropriate alternatives to the proposed route'.
It is estimated that the proposed 2GW cable could supply up to five per cent of the UK's energyneedsbutcampaigners said the choice of route would leadtoenvironmental'destruction',yearsof'trafficchaos'and 'made no sense'.
Opponents of the proposal includeboththeLabourMPfor Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan; the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, Penny Mordaunt; and councillors of all political parties, as well as hundreds o people in Portsmouth who demonstrated and signed petitions against the scheme. The News, which was threatened with legal action several times by Aquind's lawyers for publishing stories about the interconnector scheme, also submitted a formal objection to the plan and was vocal in opposing it.
The decision has been welcomed by Stop Aquind campaign co-lead Viola Langley. 'I'm sure the council will make sure the views of local people are represented and I think that's a very important thing,' she said. 'There are a lot of issues with this project and interestedpartystatuswillmean wecangetabetterunderstanding of what is happening.'
Concerns have also been raised about Aquind director Alexander Temerko who has donated more than £1m to the Conservative Party although his lawyers said he did not expect 'special treatment' in return.Thecompanyconfirmed in March that it had launched its judicial review challenging the decision. The judicial review only looks at the method used to come to a decision, not the decision itself. If Aquind wins, the whole planning process will start again.
In a statement made after Mr Kwarteng's decision was published, it said: 'We believe our application for a developmentconsentordertobeaccurate and robust, and it has met all the requirements.'