Able Marine Energy Park

The Humber estuary is vital for huge numbers of migrating and wintering birds who come from as far away as North America to feast on the calorie-rich invertebrates that live in the estuary mud. In late summer and autumn, hundreds of thousands of birds arrive on the Humber, transforming the estuary into a bustling avian airport. Some of the birds use the estuary as a stopover to refuel before continuing their migratory journey south, while many others stay there for the whole winter.

Such is the importance of the Humber, it has been designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Birds Directive, a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the European Habitats Directive, a Ramsar site, designated under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance and is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

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As a conservation organisation, we believe that climate change is the biggest current threat to the environment and that the development of the renewable energy sector is vital in reducing carbon emissions. Accordingly, we support the need for the development of the offshore wind industry in order to meet our climate and renewable energy targets. However, developers need to ensure that the necessary infrastructure either does not have a negative effect on the environment, or that any negative effects are minimised or addressed through compensation.

A prime example of this was the recent application by Associated British Ports (ABP) for the development of its Green Port Hull facility, which would be used to manufacture and construct offshore wind turbines. Working with the RSPB and other environmental groups, ABP showed their commitment to sustainable development by fully addressing the environmental impacts of their proposal, and putting in robust measures to minimise the predicted impacts and compensate for any remaining damage.

Unfortunately, we do not believe that Able UK have addressed all of the environmental issues in their application for the marine energy park. Due to the development resulting in the loss of 45 hectares (112 acres) of internationally important estuarine habitat, - heavily relied upon by wildlife for its survival - we are concerned that the proposed compensation package to offset this loss is insufficient and not fit for purpose. As a result, we objected to the application, with the aim of securing measures that both mitigate and compensate for any remaining damage that would be caused by this development if consent is granted.