Castle Point Council has raised serious concerns about OIKOS’ application to store more fuel on Canvey in official consultation response
Castle Point Council officially responded to the planning consultation on the proposals with serious concerns about flood safety at the site and argued that other fuel storage sites in the South East of England less close to populated areas should be considered for expansion to meet future need instead.
The Council also raised concerns about the volume of extra road traffic the application would bring to the local road network, the hours of construction, and the lack of proof about the economic benefit for local residents.
Canvey West Conservative Councillor, Jay Blisset said:
“I marched with residents 50 years ago against plans for the Occidental refinery and now I am a Councillor for the Island I am fighting against this application by OIKOS for the same reasons.
Canvey is unique, we are not like the other towns along the Thames. We don’t have the road infrastructure to support this application, and the site is too close to people’s homes. If there is a need to improve the resilience of the local fuel network in the South East, then they should expand the Isle of Grain or upgrade the Navigator or Thames oil ports. They are a lot further away from residential populations than OIKOS.
“I lobbied hard at Castle Point Council to get these concerns and concerns the I have about flooding and the increase in carbon emissions raised and I am pleased they have been. OIKOS need to listen to the people of Canvey and abandon their plans.”
Leader of Castle Point Council, Andrew Sheldon, said:
“The people of Canvey don’t want this expansion and I stand with them. I don’t believe it should go ahead for a number of reasons. The most important is that OIKOS is closer to residential homes compared to many other fuel storage sites in the South East. As the application is classed as a major infrastructure project, the decision will be made by the Planning Inspector rather than the Council but we have made our official position very clear.”