Our Heritage 2040: Community Update March 2024
Welcome to the latest Our Heritage 2040 Newsletter.
January marked a landmark in the progress of Sizewell C when the Development Consent Order (DCO) was officially triggered. The two-reactor nuclear power station will generate 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity - enough to provide 7% of the UK's needs. Sizewell C could power the equivalent of about six million homes and generate electricity for 60 years.
When work starts, it is expected to take between 9 and 12 years to build. This process has taken four rounds of consultation since the planning process began in 2012. In the meantime Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry totalled 37.15 billion metric tons (GtCO₂) in 2022. Emissions are projected to have risen 1.1 percent in 2023 to reach a record high of 37.55 GtCO₂. Since 1990, global CO₂ emissions have increased by more than 60 percent.
Sizewell C, Suffolk County Council and East Suffolk Council agreed a package of funding called a Deed of Obligation which sets out the measures to mitigate impact and maximise benefit from the project. Local councils agreed that Sizewell C had met its obligations so could trigger the DCO and Nuclear Minister, Andrew Bowie, visited the site to mark the occasion and meet the project team. He described triggering the DCO as "a major milestone for Sizewell C and our ambition to deliver up to 24GW of low-carbon nuclear power by 2050"... East Anglia will benefit from thousands of new jobs and apprenticeships as a result, demonstrating the local rewards of backing new nuclear," he added.
This issue of the newsletter keeps you up to date on what we've been working on and what's coming up.
Arts and Culture
Late 2023 saw the launch of a new community arts programme, and kicked things off with a free festive Come and Sing event at Pro Corda in Leiston Abbey on Saturday 2 December. Created in collaboration with award-winning arts and events producing house, Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces (OPUS), renowned Opera Director, Rosalind Parker and Conductor, Tim Brown, lead the community in a celebration of song.
The Sizewell Creative arts programme, along with partner organisations and creatives from across the region, will provide free, accessible, and sustainable arts events and initiatives for the community and local schools. To ensure the programme is wide-ranging and rooted in the community, it will be appointing new permanent positions including an Artist in Residence, Poet in Residence, and Writer in Residence positions at Sizewell C.
Other current planned activities include building a professional-community opera from within local schools and villages, with a special performance this summer. More events, workshops, initiatives, and opportunities will be published on the Sizewell C website over the course of 2024 and beyond.
Water
The East of England faces "projected water shortages of 800 million litres" per day by 2050, according to a group looking at water security. Water Resources East (WRE) said food safety was at risk unless scarcity issues were tackled.
WRE, set up by Anglian Water, includes various concerned bodies and has been tasked with creating a "regional water resources plan" for the government. It called for £15bn to be invested before 2050 to address the issues.
The 800 million litres projection equates to a third of the region's water usage, WRE said. "Action is needed now, otherwise increasing water scarcity will constrain agricultural production and curtail economic and housing development, as is already the case in parts of Cambridgeshire," it said.
Anglian Water, based in Cambridgeshire, recently warned that rising temperatures, low rainfall and population increase posed a "significant risk" to water supplies.
Last year Sizewell C began formal negotiations with Essex & Suffolk Water, part of Northumbrian Water Limited, to help fund the construction of a new water main for the region.
Julia Pyke, Sizewell C Joint Managing Director, said: “Despite the recent floods in the area, East Anglia is one of the driest parts of the country and has been classified by the Environment Agency as a Serious Water Stressed Area. Through our water supply plan for Sizewell C, we’ll be able to play our part in helping to deliver a secure and sustainable water supply for the area in the long term”.
The 28km pipeline route is expected to run from Barsham to Saxmundham, and it will be sized to provide more water than Sizewell C needs, increasing water availability for the local area too.
Sizewell C Community Fund
In January Sizewell C triggered its Development Consent Order (DCO), opening the path for formal construction and a £250m package of funding for the local community.
That funding includes £23m for community projects, £100m for the environment, £12m to support local tourism, and a £12m housing fund to boost private housing and tourist accommodation – all available in phases throughout the construction of Sizewell C.
To ensure local people continue to have their say on the project during construction, new Sizewell C Forums have launched, chaired independently and covering all the main project-related topics, so that residents can discuss key issues with the project team. Parish and town councils will represent the community at the forums, and local people can attend the meetings as observers.
Christine Abraham, former CEO of Community Action Suffolk, and Chair of the Sizewell C Community Forum, said: “Communities have been at the forefront throughout my working and personal life, and I am pleased to take up the role of Chair for the SZC Community Forum. As Chair, I look forward to ensuring good engagement with local communities on the project development, as well as providing a platform to have constructive discussions about the challenges and opportunities for local people.”
New Publication for 2024
Following the success of the first publication in the autumn of 2020, we will be bringing to life more original big picture thinking around the Our Heritage 2040 programme with an updated magazine, four years on.
Written and edited by Jericho Partner, Matthew Gwyther – and member of the local community – an anthology of nine articles and interviews will explore fresh ideas for the net zero heritage coast – with a particular focus on the environment, youth, imagination and the future.
Articles include a joint interview with Sizewell C's Julia Pyke and Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission exploring what they have in common, what they don’t, views on national infrastructure and where we might have got to by 2040; a series of portrait interviews with young people from the area on their hopes for the future; and thoughts from Russ Rainger, Trustee of Leiston Community Land Trust on the masterplan for Leiston and what needs to happen to create a joined up, net-zero vibrant community - among others. Watch this space.
Young Sizewell C
Triggering its DCO also signalled the opening of Sizewell C’s apprenticeship scheme. At peak construction, around 2,600 workers – a third of the workforce on the site – are expected to come from the local area, with opportunities for 1,500 apprenticeships created during the construction phase.
The Sizewell C project has established Young Sizewell C, through which people aged 16 to 21 and living in Suffolk or Norfolk can get help connecting to in-demand career and apprenticeship opportunities as they begin to emerge with the project. The project will invest in local skills to ensure there is a pipeline of talent ready, not only to build and operate Sizewell C, but to support the UK’s future nuclear ambitions.
The project will also have a transformational impact on local supply chains, and a number of local business leaders have welcomed the news that Sizewell C can now enter the construction phase.
Mark Burrows, Regional Commercial Director of Suffolk-based Breheny Civil Engineering Ltd, one of the largest family-owned civil engineering companies in the UK, said: “This vast nationally strategic project offers us within Suffolk the chance to showcase our extensive talent and resources and will provide work opportunities for many years. We’re already participating in projects on the Sizewell complex, and we look forward to working on many more opportunities. Our 330+ people and their families live and work in the geographical area affected by Sizewell and are looking forward to the social, environmental, and economic benefits the project will provide our community.”
In the meantime, if any of these important areas interest you, please get in touch.
Best wishes,
The Our Heritage 2040 Team