Could cable route for shelved Xlinks project be a better fit for White Cross wind farm?

Campaigners fighting to stop windfarm cables being laid at Saunton Sands want planners to investigate the proposed Xlinks site at Abbotsham as an alternative route.

Love Braunton says the route planned for the Xlinks Morocco to UK project has ‘significantly less environmental concerns’ than the White Cross windfarm cable plan, which would come ashore at Saunton and tunnel under a number of protected landscapes before connecting to the national grid at Yelland.

Last month the government decided to walk away from the Xlinks scheme, which would have brought wind and solar energy from Morocco to Britain via a 3,800km cable coming onshore at Cornborough near Abbotsham, a little further down the coast, before connecting to a sub station near Alverdiscott.

READ MORE: Government ditches support for Xlinks undersea cable project

Now, Love Braunton’s solicitors are asking North Devon Council (NDC) to ‘hold issuing the decision notice’ on the planning permission granted in May until the alternative route is explored.

The Morocco scheme was expected to provide eight per cent of the UK’s energy and slash energy prices by more than nine per cent in its first year.

Designated as a ‘nationally significant project’ by the previous government in 2023, the Labour Government pulled its support after saying it wanted to concentrate on projects in the UK and there was ‘a high level of inherent risk, related to both delivery and security’.

Above: The stretch of coast near Abbotsham at Cornborough, roughly close to the location depicted here, would be a better place for the White Cross cables to make landfall, Love Braunton says. Credit: Viral PR

White Cross meanwhile is a test and demonstration site for wind power in the Celtic Sea, 50 kilometres off the North Devon coast, which was granted development rights from the Crown Estate in 2021

The onshore cable route was controversially granted planning permission despite thousands of objectors raising concerns over the impact on the environment, the beach and Braunton village which could see 82 vehicle movements a day through its narrow streets.

There were 39 conditions added to the planning consent in an attempt to protect the landscape and the community.

The letter to North Devon Council on behalf of Love Braunton’s solicitors, Richard Buxton, said: “The Xlinks cable route is understood to have capacity to accommodate the onshore energy transmission and is therefore a reasonable alternative with significantly less environmental concerns.”

The Xlinks route does fall under the jurisdiction of Torridge District Council, however.

White Cross says its plans will bring jobs and investment to the region.

READ MORE: Swimmers leave their heart on the sand at North Devon beach facing wind farm cable plans

At the planning meeting in May, planning officer Andrew Sierakowski said 22 other routes had been looked at, but there were environmental constraints along the whole coastline.

“It’s chock-a-block with designations and it’s impossible to go onshore without going through one,” he said.

Xlinks says it has not ruled out its Morocco-UK power project, which could potentially still go ahead without support from the government.

However, not all are pleased with the legal bid from Love Braunton – a reader emailed the Gazette today (Tuesday) to say North Devon needed to ‘stand together’ and lobby for the connections to be moved to Bridgwater or Port Talbot where the power was needed.

They added: “The Braunton residents are trying to throw their North Devon neighbours under the developer’s bus in an ‘I'm alright Jack’ move, claiming with no evidence whatsoever that the destruction of Abbotsham's unspoilt coastline is a better choice.

“I thought North Devon had a sense of pride, togetherness and community, but apparently not.

“These small-minded folks need to realise that with 20 offshore wind projects granted connections at Alverdiscott, even if they are successful in inflicting blight and devastation on their North Devon neighbours, it will not be long before the next connection project grabs the chance to use the Braunton route, which having permission will look very attractive.”