What is it like living near the site of a new nuclear power station?

New satellite images show how one of the largest construction projects in Europe has transformed the Suffolk countryside. But what is it like living close to the site of a new nuclear power station and associated infrastructure?

Sizewell C itself is yet to take shape – but construction work has already hugely changed the landscape on one part of the Suffolk coast.

Satellite images reveal how the surrounding countryside looked in 2024, before work began, with swathes of green fields around the town of Leiston, up to the existing Sizewell B power station.

Fast forward to April this year, and it is a very different picture. Almost all the sandy-brown areas are construction sites, where a new link road off the A12, a new bypass, two park and ride sites and a new railhead are all being built simultaneously.

Sizewell C has said the infrastructure will ease congestion and improve safety, but residents say they have had to put up with noise, diversions and road closures.

Diane Flowitt-Hill lives beside a recently completed new roundabout at Yoxford. She is also close to the construction site of a four-mile (6.5km) link road, which will take Sizewell C traffic straight to the A12, bypassing the villages of Theberton and Middleton Moor.

"It's been absolutely horrendous - the vibrations, the dust, the noise," she explains.

"It's non-stop."

During the works she had to take an eight-mile (13km) diversion through Leiston to reach the A12, which runs beside her house, and another time found a "trench" at the end of her driveway.

She says she cannot see any potential long-term benefits for road users and claims the network "worked fine" as it was.

"What we've actually lived through, really, I cannot stress enough," she says.

"Solar panels are filthy, washing comes in dirty, cars are filthy – it's just constant."

Five miles (8km) from Yoxford stands Leiston Abbey, which since the late 1960s has been the home of Pro Corda, a charity that supports young musicians.

Its tranquillity is vital for its residential courses. But just a few hundred yards away, Sizewell C is building a new railhead to bring in construction materials.

"Pro Corda relies on the beautiful serenity of this site and it's a place where young people and also adults can come and retreat and feel very free to be creative with their musical learning," explains chief executive Miranda Johnson.

"So it has been difficult; there is obviously a lot of disruption to the local area, both in terms of roads and noise and just the general sort of feel of the whole place has changed immeasurably."

Before work began, Pro Corda had concerns about the potential impact on its residential courses, particularly as 50% of its students have special educational needs and disabilities.

It shifted learning elsewhere, including to boarding schools, with financial help from Sizewell C.

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This summer, "thrilled" students are returning for its first residential courses in two years, as the charity acknowledged it was "possible to continue operating now that the works have started".

"There has been a huge amount of work locally and, you know, everybody who spends time in the area knows how that feels," Johnson adds.

"In terms of the support that we've received from people who work at Sizewell, it's been overwhelmingly positive.

"There's been a huge amount of openness to trying to help."

Nigel Cann, chief executive of Sizewell C, says he has empathy for those directly affected but believes they will reap the benefits of the "crucial" infrastructure, including new roundabouts improving "blackspot" junctions.

The villages of Farnham and Stratford St Andrew will get a bypass, and park and rides at Darsham and Wickham Market are already ferrying site workers and "significantly" reducing traffic, he says.

"I can't get people to love cones and traffic lights but we are trying to do it in the most thoughtful way possible," he explains.

"Eventually, a lot of the scars across the land as we build bypasses and link roads will be replaced by trees and planters along the side of the road.

"It's quite awful when you look at the land we've stripped and the trees we've taken down, but we can reassure people we will plant four times as many trees."

Almost 8,000 people will work on this phase – from construction workers and engineers, to catering and security staff – as well as 80 apprentices based in Suffolk.

"These are real people already positively impacted, against people queuing for a while at traffic lights, which I know is a burden, but will be very short-lived," he adds,

"This is a long-term investment, it is necessary and will be around for decades - we are building something that will be of huge benefit to the UK, and we will try to minimise the impact."

Most of the infrastructure works would be finished in 2027, he added.

Additional reporting by Alex Murray, BBC Verify

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