Dame Joanna Lumley on visit to see detonation in a quarry (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster/Daily Express)
Dame Joanna Lumley is “thrilled to the core” that marine animals will be protected by new rules to curb harmful underwater noise in offshore wind construction.
Developers will have to use low-noise methods when detonating old unexploded ordnance on the seabed when they build wind farms, the Environment Department (Defra) said on Tuesday.
They will also be required to demonstrate clear efforts to reduce underwater noise during the installation of turbines.
Actress and animal welfare campaigner Dame Joanna said: “I’m thrilled to the core at this announcement. This is a magnificent example of government and industry coming together to embrace technology and challenge the old way of doing things.
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“Our seas, and the creatures that call them home, are unbelievably precious. This announcement should ensure that high-order detonation, and the damage it wreaks, is consigned to the history books.
“For too long we’ve being using Second World War technology to dispose of underwater unexploded munitions. I commend all those in the Government, Parliament and industry who have worked so hard to get this pioneering and ground-breaking advance over the line.”
More than 300,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance from the First and Second World Wars are estimated to be still sitting on the UK seabed, meaning they must be cleared if encountered during construction.
Under the new rules, developers will need to use low-noise disposal methods by default but noisy high-order detonations will be considered as a last resort in some cases.
Ministers’ measures aim to minimise the impact of loud explosions and pile driving on vulnerable animals and commercially valuable fish stocks.
The noise can cause extreme stress among species, alter their behaviour, scare off prey and, in extreme cases, lead to death.
The rules are also designed to prevent construction delays caused by breaches in legal noise thresholds.