One thing has been clear in the two years since Green-led Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) rejected a motion demanding “unequivocal support for a new era of nuclear energy production at Dungeness”. The pro-nuclear lobby will never accept this is not a realistic prospect.
Recently appointed minister of state Lord Patrick Vallance saying he was “aware of developer and community interest” in future nuclear projects at Dungeness (and other sites) was enough to prompt media coverage claiming Dungeness is being “tipped for nuclear return”. Even The Sun got in on the act.
Yet, something else hasn’t changed since our Green district councillors instead chose in 2023 to back clean energy initiatives more broadly. Small Modular Reactors of the sort being discussed remain unproven and untested. There are none currently operational in Europe or the Americas, and Russia and China have only one apiece. Would we really want a prototype nuclear installation without the tried and tested safety measures in place for old-style nuclear power stations in our district?
In 2010, the government published its examination of sites it believed to be fit for new reactors by the end of 2025. In its assessment, Dungeness was not deemed a suitable site because no new reactor could be built without adding more sea defences to protect against the risk of a tsunami – remember Fukushima? – and these defences would damage the ecology of this precious Site of Special Scientific Interest. Since then, the threat of rising sea levels because of climate change has increased.
Other sites could potentially more easily accommodate SMRs (and more of them), if and when they become viable.
However, nationally, the Green Party wants to see nuclear energy phased out in favour of renewable technologies and a big push on energy efficiency, both of which are cleaner and cheaper solutions that can be delivered far more quickly.
Renewables supplied more of the UK’s electricity than any other source in 2025, making up 47% of the total. An increase in electricity demand for the second year in a row points to the need for energy efficiency.
When it comes to renewables, solar has become very controversial locally with three huge schemes proposed for Romney Marsh. Because they would be so big the Government’s Planning Inspectorate will decide whether they go ahead, rather than FHDC.
Leader of the council, Councillor Jim Martin, wrote to the government, raising residents’ concerns with the energy minister over the cumulative impact of the proposed schemes. This followed a meeting of FHDC in October at which those campaigning against the solar farms presented a petition and spoke against this potential industrialisation of the Marsh.
Solar is vital but schemes must be in the right place and of an appropriate size, and local people must be consulted.
Getting solar panels on the rooftops of every suitable building must be a priority and would create many jobs. Solar farms will still be necessary, but these should be on a much smaller scale – like the one that has been in place in Old Romney for a decade, without many people even noticing. Any such schemes must be carefully landscaped and increase biodiversity and should offer benefits to the local community.
