Campaigners raise the cash to mount legal bid against controversial cable plans

The battle to thwart controversial plans to route the White Cross windfarm cables through Saunton Sands could be heading to the High Court after campaigners hit their £50,000 target to mount a legal challenge.

With just hours to spare, community group Love Braunton, supported by Save Our Sands, announced they had hit their target after launching a crowdfunding campaign in July to raise money for legal costs.

They are now applying for a judicial review to challenge the lawfulness of North Devon Council’s decision to approve the landward element of the project, which would see power cables serving the offshore floating wind farm tunnelled under Saunton beach and highly protected areas of North Devon before connecting to a substation at Yelland.

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Sue Prosper from Love Braunton said: “Given we had almost reached this our first target, our legal team finalised the application asking for a judicial review to be held.

“This has now been filed with the court. We await their decision on whether we can proceed.

“If permission to go ahead is granted then the next stage of fundraising begins. The community has done so much to get us this far, but please carry on supporting us and spreading the word.”

Almost 2,000 people opposed the scheme when it came before North Devon Council’s planning committee in May.

People were concerned about the impact the eight kilometre cable route would have on the environment and the disruption it would cause to the village and tourism over the two-year construction phase.

The turbine platform itself would be more than 30 miles off the coast and would consist of up to eight turbines, intended as a ‘test and demonstration’ platform to prove the viability of larger clusters.

Love Braunton says it is not against windfarms but it is committed to protecting the “natural environment, the community and the local economy” which it says the cable route threatens.

Helen Cooper of Save Our Sands said the community had done themselves proud by raising the money, adding: “This has truly been a phenomenal response by the local community and businesses in the surrounding area who stand to be severely impacted negatively by the White Cross decision.

“In the last 12 days alone we’ve received over £20,000! We’re truly grateful for the big hearted support this appeal has been given.”

Save Our Sands have held a number of protests on the beach and in June recreated the iconic album cover for Pink Floyd’s ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ which was shot there almost 40 years ago, to raise the profile of their campaign.

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Above: Local surfing legend Eric Davies (right) presents the modern recreation of the Pink Floyd album cover ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’, which was originally shot at Saunton to Mark Adams, trustee of the British Museum of Surfing in Braunton. Credit: Liz Seymour

Members of North Devon Council’s had been ‘torn’ over the decision, having to weigh up environmental concerns and the impact on local businesses against the need for more renewable energy to tackle climate change.

The approval contained 39 conditions to mitigate the impact of the 28-month construction on the community, environment and wildlife.

White Cross told planners it had worked hard to ensure the proposals were sensitive to the local environment, taking steps to minimise disturbance during construction. This included avoiding any negative impact on the overwintering bird population, uninterrupted access to Saunton Sands beach and ensuring cables would be fully hidden along the route.

White Cross has full permission to operate offshore by the Marine Management Organisation and was granted development rights for the 100 MW floating turbines in 2021.

It says the site will generate enough energy to power 135,000 homes and demonstrate the viability of floating wind in the Celtic Sea, which is essential to attract future investment to the region and accelerate the UK’s transition away from fossil fuels.