Kent Wildlife Trust has expressed deep disappointment following the Secretary of State’s decision to approve National Grid’s Sea Link electricity infrastructure project between Kent and Suffolk. The project involves a high-voltage subsea cable that would come ashore at Pegwell Bay, part of the internationally important Sandwich and Pegwell Bay National Nature Reserve.

The Trust, which owns and manages areas of the reserve, is concerned about the potential impacts on protected wildlife and sensitive coastal habitats, including disturbance to internationally important bird populations and damage to irreplaceable saltmarsh. It fears the project could add to the pressures already facing this important wildlife site and make the recovery of vulnerable habitats even more challenging.

These concerns are heightened by the legacy of the previous Nemo Link interconnector cable project, which left a lasting scar on the Bay’s saltmarsh following installation works. Subsequent monitoring indicated that the area has still not recovered, raising questions about whether the long-term ecological consequences of major infrastructure developments are being adequately understood, monitored and addressed.