Two bombs believed to have been on Brighton’s coast since World War II will be detonated this summer after being discovered during works to build the Rampion Wind Farm.
The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm is an 116 turbine farm project to be built 13km off the Sussex coast by 2018. The project is expected to majorly increase Sussex’s renewable energy output.
Works have recommenced this week after a temporary break due to the discovery of the bombs although a break in work had been planned for the black bream spawning season. The black bream fish are most commonly found in the Sussex area from April until early July and are very popular amongst Sussex’s fisherman.
Rampion an outlet of the energy giant E.ON have now been approved by the Marine Management Organisation to detonate the bombs which are located just 3km from the shore. A 1km safety exclusion zone will be put in place and local commercial and recreational sea users will be warned of the planned explosion prior to the date. It’s believed there is no immediate danger to the public despite the nature of this discovery. The site spans as far as Sompting and Saltdean but as previously stated is far out enough to not cause major disruption to those living and working on the coast.
Chris Tomlinson, E.ON Development Manager for the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, said: “Over the last few months, our highly skilled team has continued to prepare the site for foundation installation, progressing with boulder relocation and unexploded ordnance surveys.”
“We are now pleased to be entering the next stage of piling and we’ll now work towards installing the remainder of the foundations by the end of this year, in preparation for turbine installation to begin in 2017.”
Rampion despite this complication are positive the works can be completed on time and there’s real confidence the project will be a major positive to the local community.
