Surfer demo highlights ‘cable chaos’ White Cross will bring to Saunton

Generations of surfers gathered at Saunton Sands on Saturday (June 21) to stage a very visual demonstration against the route of power cables for the offshore White Cross windfarm.

The Cable Chaos event organised by Save Our Sands (SOS) saw a line of surfers and their boards mark out exactly where the cables will run under the beach, which is a renowned surfing location and a part of a designated World Surfing Reserve.

Above: Campaigners believe the offshore wind farm cables may not stay buried on an ever-changing beach. Credit: Neil Phillips

The cable route for up to eight floating turbines, which are part of a ‘demonstration’ platform, will make landfall on the beach at Saunton Sands and extend eight kilometres under a protected area plus Saunton Golf Course and the Taw Estuary, connecting to the national grid at Yelland.

Despite more than 1,800 objections and a petition with almost 4,000 names, North Devon Council’s planning committee has approved the scheme.

But campaigners from SOS are concerned the cables will not stay buried due to the harsh marine environment, meaning more disruption to rebury them and even fear there could be potential health issues from the high voltage for people with pacemakers and cochlear implants.

Above: The protest on Saturday attracted generations of surfers to Saunton Sands. Credit: Helen Cooper

The cabling work is expected to take two years, with a work hub in the beach car park, closing 40 per cent of parking for what is a popular tourist and surfing beach, plus there are expected to be up to 90 movements of heavy lorries per day through Braunton.

Helen Cooper of SOS said they were delighted so many turned out for the Cable Chaos event on Saturday morning.

She added: “Save Our Sands shares the concerns of many within the community that not only will the White Cross cable(s) route disrupt life and their ability to enjoy the beach during installation, but also afterwards when there is a very real threat of cable re-emergence.

“This poses the risk of the ongoing industrialisation of not just the area behind the Burrows, where 60 foot massive inspection chambers will be sited, needing annual inspections, but also the beach itself, with all the inconvenience and impact that would have.”

Among those attended the event was veteran pro surfer Eric Davies, who has surfed at Saunton for 55 years. He said he was ‘stoked’ to see some other well respected faces from the local surf scene there.

Helen said people had travelled from as far afield as the Isle of Wight and Hampshire to take part.

Above: Local surfing legends Ray Barwell, Eric Davies and Gavin Bowden joined the cable chaos protest at Saunton on Saturday. Credit: Neil Phillips

The Gazette put the concerns of SOS to White Cross Ltd and a spokesperson said: “The White Cross Offshore Windfarm project has undertaken a range of rigorous environmental impact assessment processes, the results of which were submitted to North Devon Council and the Marine Management Organisation as part of our consent applications.

“These conclude that there will be no effect on Saunton Sands once the work is complete. The cable will be safely buried underground and will not be visible.”

Save Our Sands is promising another protest next month and invites people to keep a watch on its Facebook page, local press or visit www.saveoursands.co.uk.