With regards to the Old Hutton Power Station plan (Gazette, May 18, 'Power scheme sparks furore), why are there two applications (SL/2017/0425 and SL/2017/0426)?

Is this because Statera know this is a very controversial application and hope if the application for the generators is refused the battery storage will be approved?

The site will then be built and fully developed. In the future Statera may well apply again to add the generators.

Our local primary school is half a mile away and the nearest house is 250 yards.

The generators could run continuously in a future power shortage. How will fumes from all chimney stacks be accurately monitored at all times? What happens if flood water got inside the shipping container and on to batteries?

How secure and safe will the high pressure gas connection be? We will only really know if noise is a problem if the full site was operational during different weather conditions and it would then be too late to stop it.

Statera claims the the risk of flooding is low but what happens if we get site flooding during or after major construction works?

The access lane to the site already turns into a river during torrential rain and the Statera site will drain directly on to the same road, flowing downhill into Middleshaw Beck.

The beck has only caused flooding in Middleshaw twice in the last 100 years. Both occurred during National Grid Phase 1 and 2 constructions in the early 1980s and again on August 5, 2013.

Large diameter land drains, culverting Middleshaw Beck under the site and hundreds of square metres of concrete, must be allowing much more surface water to enter the beck much faster, compared to when it was a greenfield site. The Statera application must be linked to previous flooding incidents during National Grid constructions as surface water from both will flow directly into Middleshaw Beck.

Statera inserts a get out phrase to pacify planning committees and local residents. The risk of flooding is low and “The proposed development will not exceed the existing greenfield runoff from the field."

They know very well this can never be measured after construction. The Environmental Agency report SC30219 states runoff from a developed site is two and 10 times the run off from the same pre-developed green field site.

On site holding tanks and filters can be used but what happens when they become full or blocked with silt?

Local residents who live on the side of the beck can actually see the increasing volume and speed that water is now going into the beck since the 2013 flooding incident as it flows inches away from their windows. Any further development can only increase the future risk of flooding and both applications must be refused.

Mr C. Winders

Middleshaw Flood Action Group

Old Hutton