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Sedgemoor District Council said it is "happy" with a £94 million community compensation package agreed with EDF Energy in return for hosting the proposed new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point. However, there has been no further agreement on legacy housing.
The council, along with Somerset County Council and West Somerset County Council last week agreed the wording of the Section 106 document, expected to be signed in the next few weeks. In all EDF Energy’s community commitments stand at £94 million.
Doug Bamsey, corporate director of regeneration for Sedgemoor, told Utility Week that while the agreement did not cover legacy housing, EDF is set to acquire the rest of the required land from Innovia by the end of this year. “At that point we can work with EDF Energy as the land owner,” he said.
The council is keen for EDF Energy to build worker accommodation that could be converted to legacy housing when construction is complete. It has commissioned studies which suggest that the cost would be no greater to EDF Energy than its current proposals, which are for temporary units that would be pulled down following construction. See this link for details.
Bamsey said the limiting factor in trying to align major infrastructure projects with housing was that the “government never joined up” the two elements in the Planning Act 2008. As a result “the Planning Inspectorate made it very clear [legacy housing] is nothing for it to consider”. However, with last week’s agreement and the likely land acquisition, Bamsey hoped that further negotiations would take place. “EDF is a major landowner in Bridgwater,” he said. “Working [together] will be very important.”
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