Fenland District Council rejects Robert Wynn & Sons’ plans for 16.5m wide Terra Marique barge to transport goods along River Nene

Plans to move a transformer and generator using a barge have been rejected by the district council as it creates an “unacceptable risk of collision”.

Peter Wynn, managing director of shipping company Robert Wynn & Sons, says there is a “lack of joined up thinking” from Fenland District Council after it blocked the company from using the River Nene to transport heavy goods to Wisbech.

The authority says that after a 12-month period of assessment, it determined it would not be safe for the 16.5m wide vessel - called the Terra Marique - to travel through the Wisbech Port as it “significantly” exceeds the Cross Keys Bridge’s maximum permitted width by three and a half metres, leaving only half a metre of clearance on either side of the Grade II listed structure.

“Combined with the river’s strong tidal stream and lack of any main engine capacity on the vessel, this created an unacceptable risk of collision, grounding or infrastructure damage,” the council said.

“We always prioritise safety over commercial profit and therefore, on this occasion, we regretfully had to decline the Terra Marique’s transit.”

However, Peter says that despite its size, the navigation would be no more challenging than a series of successful deliveries made by the same barge in its 20-year history.

“Wisbech is Cambridgeshire’s only port – you would think the council would treat it as a jewel,” he added.

The authority has said that the 164-tonne transformer and 365-tonne generator - which were being delivered for the construction of a synchronous condenser at Walpole - have now been put onto a more conventional vessel and, once Highways approves the road route, will be moved.

“We seem to have a council that, despite central Government policy, believes the movement of a gross load of more than 600 tonnes along the road from Sutton Bridge is safer and better for the environment than delivery to Wisbech by water,” Peter said.

“This should have been an example of how things should work, but this is the opposite.

“As a result, we have what seems like an insurmountable obstacle to a vital Net Zero project being delivered in a sustainable way.”

He added that the processes the company has gone through to try and “satisfy” the council have taken “a huge amount of time and money” because of geotechnical surveys, bathymetric surveys, flow rate surveys and other consultancy work that had to take place.

“We have a passion for this, and we are not going to give up. As a company, we always focus on what can be done rather than what can’t be done.

“There needs to be serious thought and subsequent action to ensure that the aspirations for Net Zero can be delivered in the manner that everybody would want, which is with minimal amounts of cost and disruption to UK PLC and local communities.”