EDF has been urged to “end the uncertainty” over its plans to turn part of Somerset into a salt marsh after it announced it was delaying the plans.

The power company, which is building Hinkley Point C, wants to create 340 hectares of new salt marsh habitats along the Severn — including at Kington Seymour in North Somerset — to compensate for the 44 tonnes of fish expected to be sucked into the power plant’s cooling systems each year.

A consultation on the plans had been set to launch this month, but now EDF has said it is marking sure all options are “fully explored” and is delaying the consultation until later in 2025.

A letter sent to people in the areas affected on Monday said: “We have listened carefully to all views and the feedback has provided us with a great deal of insight as we consider what proposals to put forward in our public consultation.”

A map of the area considered, as shown at the meeting in Kingston Seymour
A map of the area considered, as shown at the meeting in Kingston Seymour (Claire Stuckey)

But the letter has not impressed locals.

Local councillor Steve Bridger, who represents the Yatton ward which includes Kingston Seymour on North Somerset Council, said: “It is clear to me that EDF’s preference is to find voluntary ways to meet its planning obligations, so I would ask that they end the uncertainty for residents and businesses and just drop their proposals to create a salt marsh and put their energy into a genuine and open conversation with our communities to develop a strategy that protects all our residents and funds all sorts of biodiversity gains in North Somerset that we actually want and need.”

The controversial plans were debated in Parliament in October, and North Somerset Council resolved in November to write to the government to urge it to block the plans.

But EDF says it has to find a way to compensate for the deaths of fish in its cooling system as it draws in water from the Severn Estuary. Although it does have a fish return mechanism to reduce the numbers of fish killed — the first British nuclear power station to have one — it is predicted that 44 tonnes of fish a year will slip through the mechanism.

The planning permission for Hinkley Point C originally stipulated that it would use loudspeakers by the water intakes on the sea floor to scare off fish, but EDF has warned it would be dangerous for divers.

The packed public meeting in Kingston Seymour over the salt marsh plans
(Claire Stuckey)

EDF said in the letter: “Although creating saltmarsh, among other measures, is the only option currently likely to be accepted as mitigation, it remains our preference to find voluntary ways to meet our obligations. We believe that community support is essential for long term national infrastructure projects and want measures that work for both the community and the environment.

“We are also open to working with others to find alternative measures where possible. In addition, we will review the potential for any emerging technology to further protect fish without risking the lives of divers in the dangerous waters of the Severn Estuary.”