SIR — We read the reporting of the EDF proposals for the building and preparatory work for the proposed Hinkley 'C' Power Station in your newspaper every week.
Of course we are pleased that the residents of Cannington and Williton have had their views listened to by EDF and that they will not have to cope with such things as freight storage and hostels for workers.
Unfortunately, we who live in the shadow of the existing Hinkley stations are fewer in number and our protests have gone unheeded and, sadly, largely unreported by your newspaper.
We are threatened by the proposal of having a campus for 700 workers one field away from our homes.
This will have over 400 parking spaces, outdoor games pitches and leisure facilities, lighting, three-storey accommodation blocks and other buildings for the use of the workers.
But you cannot keep 700 people caged up while they are not on their shifts - we are all fearful that our villages will be swamped and our narrow lanes overrun with cars for several years during the build, let alone the inevitable noise and lights from the campus which will ruin our peaceful lives.
Why can't EDF understand that this campus is entirely inappropriate in our rural area and so close to residential properties?
Our crime rates are low - will this still be the case? We have no police presence in this area.
We were all stunned at the lack of understanding of respondents away from this area to the first consultation - many said that workers should be housed "on site".
They cannot be aware of the close proximity of the proposed campus to our homes.
The second issue we have is the shock "preferred route" for the buses transporting workers from the Williton park-and-ride to the site.
This was to have been via the A39 and the Cannington by-pass, but now it is via the narrow twisty lanes from the A39 through Stringston and the conservation area of the village of Stogursey, past the primary school and onto the Hinkley Road at a blind bend - Canley Corner.
These lanes are used by farmers with tractors and by horse riders. Some parts are too narrow for two vehicles to pass each other. The lane is also prone to flooding in places. Here we have accidents just waiting to happen.
We all know that we are going to suffer from constant noise, dust, light pollution, air pollution, smells and heavy traffic during the power station build period.
But why should we have additional suffering from the proposed campus and the ill-conceived ridiculous proposed 'bus route'?
Barbara and Peter Oates,
Shurton.