Farmers slam 'crazy' plans to flood 1,500 acres to save fish from a power plant

Farmers and locals say their 'lives will be destroyed' by 'crazy' plans to flood 1,500 acres - to compensate for fish lost to a nuclear power plant. EDF Energy wants the land - much of it used for agriculture and businesses like camping and tourism - to create a saltmarsh habitat. Hinkley Point C is currently being built and will ingest 44 tonnes of fish a year - and EDF wants to mitigate that loss and the wider environmental impact of the site. It wants to compensate the death of the fish and its carbon footprint by creating the saltmarsh at one of four sites along the River Severn in Somerset. Plans are currently focused on Kingston Seymour, between Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare, where landowners have received letters and documents from EDF. Andrew Cockcroft, Head of Stakeholder Relations at Hinkley Point C, said: “We have listened carefully to concerns and suggestions made during our consultation and are now exploring changes to our proposals. “Hinkley Point C is one of Britain’s biggest acts in the fight against climate change and its operation will provide significant benefits for the environment. “The development of saltmarsh habitat will boost this further - helping support fish populations and minimise the small environmental impact of operating the new power station.” For action group’s petition visit: https://www.change.org/p/stop-hinkley-point-c-edf-proposal-to-flood-part-of-kingston-seymour-for-salt-marsh.