Murmurations over G2/Manor Field
WALL PUBLIC MEETING
8th March 10 am Village Hall
LionLink – What Happens Next?
Now that Walberswick has been chosen as the landfall site, discover what will be happening through 2025 and 2026 and what you can do to help the WALL campaign oppose National Grid Ventures’ (NGV) devastating plans. The announcement by National Grid Ventures does NOT mean that everything is lost. The last couple of years have been the ‘phoney war’ our fight now starts in earnest.
NGV chooses Walberswick for LionLink landfall
In their latest Community newsletter NGV have just announced that Walberswick is to be their chosen landfall site for Lion Link.
“Following extensive analysis, we have chosen Walberswick as our preferred landfall site. The landfall site north of Southwold has been discounted, and no construction will take place in Southwold”
It is clear that they have chosen to completely ignore all the evidence we have pulled together from our surveys on both wildlife and pedestrian footfall. We sent this to them recently in the form of a letter from our lawyers which raised a range of concerns about environmental and other impacts should Walberswick be chosen as a landfall.
WALL remains totally opposed to NGV’s plan for Walberswick as a landfall site.
We are taking further advice from our lawyers and will provide an update on our plans for the next steps in our campaign which will continue despite this very disappointing decision. In particular, we ask everyone who supports our campaign against LionLink to respond to the consultative events that NGV are organising on the following dates:
Friday 14th March 2pm- 8pm (drop-in) Saxmundham
Saturday 15th March 10am – 4pm (drop-in) Walberswick Village Hall
Wednesday 19th March 6pm-7.30pm Webinar
Please put these dates in your diaries and most importantly come to the NGV consultative session in the Village Hall on 15th March. SHOW NGV WHAT YOU THINK OF THEIR PLANS!
We are also aiming to hold a Public Meeting in the Village Hall in the near future. We will update everyone on our plans but want to hear what you think too!
Latest news
WALL Objection Letter (Feb 2025)
On behalf of Walberswick residents, Walberswick Against LionLink (WALL) has shared the following letter opposing Site G2 as the landfall site for the LionLink Multi-Purpose Interconnector (MPI).
People Survey
Updates from the People Counter survey conducted on and around proposed landfall sites.
Wildlife Survey
Updates from the Wild Survey conducted on and around proposed landfall sites.
Legislation/policy - why our surveys matter
What do our wildlife survey and the proximity to protected sites actually mean in relation to LionLink and their requirement to comply with environmental regulation?
Works have now started… but with restrictions
LionLink assumed that their application to begin digging trenches and boreholes around Manor Field and Track Field, on the beach and various access points would just be nodded through.
Object to LionLink survey planning application
National Grid/Lion Link need permission from our council to carry out test drillings for their devastating plans in Walberswick. We can all object and comment
Help with the Scoping document
National Grid are putting us under huge time pressure to respond to their scoping document. We need your help!
Big Walberswick Wildlife Watch
Please join the Big Walberswick Wildlife Watch and help us record the wildlife on Walberswick’s proposed landfall sites.
Art for WALL Fundraising Project
Local artists have created and donated a piece of art connected with Walberswick, a special place to them all, to help protect this precious habitat.
What Happens Next?
We had an amazing response to our call for everyone to send emails and letters to National Grid Ventures, MP’s, Councillors and others as part of the non-statutory consultation process.
Walberswick in the press
‘It’s like buying an iPhone and not having a cable’: UK’s bid for net zero in the balance due to grid ‘blind spot’
Help us raise funds
Running the WALL campaign costs money!
If you are worried about the threat that LionLink poses to Walberswick and are able to help by making a contribution to WALL please donate here
Our mission
WALL wholeheartedly supports the UK’s commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050 and recognises the importance of renewable energy to achieving that goal.
However, WALL believes that National Grid’s proposal to land their LionLink interconnector cable on the Suffolk coast is driven primarily by reducing costs and boosting their profits.
It will result in irreparable damage to the beautiful natural environment surrounding Walberswick, reduce biodiversity and harm local businesses and the economy.
WALL opposes LionLink and believes that the best solution is for National Grid to create an offshore grid and bring cables ashore at an existing brownfield site closer to London and the South East, where demand for electricity is highest.
FAQs
What does Lion Link want to do?
LionLink proposes to bring ashore cables interconnecting the UK to Holland at one of two greenfield sites in Walberswick. These sites are at the beach hut car park or at Manor Field in the centre of the village. The huge earthworks to bury the cables will impact upon the beach, the dunes, the river, the marshes and the various protected lands that surround Walberswick.
How long will it take?
National Grid Ventures say the LionLink project could take 8 years to complete, beginning with the initial consultation in 2022 through to the interconnector cable coming into service in 2030. National Grid will probably decide on their preferred landfall site in 2024, start a statutory consultation in 2025, aim to get planning approval in 2026 and start construction in 2027. The process of constructing the landfall site (either G or G2) and then laying the cable to the proposed substation near Friston could take up to 4 years.
What does it look like?
This aerial photograph shows the same landfall process happening at Bawdsey 30 miles away. The image hasn’t been doctored… the cable route is as wide as a motorway.
What’s the alternative?
An offshore grid through the North Sea connected to brownfield sites closer to where the power is needed would create a sustainable, non-invasive solution that can be added to. Our North Sea neighbours in Belgium, Germany, Holland and Denmark are rolling these out… why can’t we?
Who is LionLink?
LionLink is a private company posing as a public one. They are accountable only to their shareholders so are not making decisions that are focused on the public good or the costs they impose on our communities.
Who is WALL?
Walberswick Against LionLink is a local campaigning organisation formed by a group of Walberswick residents opposed to National Grid’s LionLink proposal. It started as a WhatsApp group which grew to have over 230 members. WALL is run by volunteers who are organised through a Steering Group with sub-groups working on Communications, Fund-raising, Environment, Legal, Energy Strategy and other topics.
