Hinkley Point C will ‘decimate fish stocks’ say campaigners

The village of Arlingham lies on a bend of the Severn, with fertile low-lying farmland around it.

Proposals to breach the banks to create the new marshland have gone down very badly.

A public meeting held in the village hall to hear the plans from EDF’s team on Monday was packed out.

“We have fertile farmland, we have rare wildlife,” said one woman. “Hares, bats, hedgehogs. Why would you choose Arlingham?”

Another man told EDF representatives: “Arlingham is a unique part of the country, and I see no reason for you ruining that just to solve your problem with dead fish”.

EDF’s team told the meeting they were hear “to listen, to collaborate”.

They had to find somewhere to create the new 340 hectares of saltmarsh, and Arlingham was one of four sites that fit the bill, they said.

But locals insist there is another, better, way.