Angry shopper fears turbine 'gold rush'
As angry feelings continue to grow over plans for a wind farm in North Herefordshire, moves to get a thumbs-up from shoppers in Leominster have only added fuel to the fire.
Amid allegations that the controversial plans for a wind farm on Stonewall Hill near Lingen could lead to something of a “gold rush” in the area, there are accusations that the applicants, Bolsterstone plc, have set up information points for collecting signatures more than 20 miles away in Leominster.
One woman who was approached in Corn Square by two men with a range of information and photo-montages of the four proposed 105-metre turbines, claims they told her that Leominster was a “really good spot”for raising the issue.
She alleges they told her they could “get more people to sign than they could in the areas where the turbines are going to be”.
The woman fears that if the wind farm gets the go-ahead from Herefordshire Council, it will set a precedent and the development could spark something of a “gold rush” in the area.
She claims this “absolute gold rush” will have “nothing to do with renewable energy”. She adds: “It’s simply about money, a staggering amount of money and it’s a financial scandal.”
The woman, who refuses to be named claiming she fears reprisals if she speaks out, is angry at what she describes as the style and technique adopted by two men representing Bolsterstone plc during a street consultation on the subject in Leominster’s Corn Square recently.
“I was shown photographs of the landscape with four tiny wind turbines and commented that you could hardly see them,” she reports.
She said that one of the representatives replied: “They are hardly noticeable and most people find them attractive.”
Asking them to identify the area, she received a reply that the name ‘Presteigne’ was “just some small village in Wales”.
She continued: “I asked if the locals were aware of the development and they said yes, absolutely everyone has been informed and there are just a few ‘whingeing locals’ who, as usual, are just trying to spoil it for everyone else.”
The two men said they were in Leominster to “encourage people to voice their support for the wind farm – a an important contributor to green energy”.
She asked why the street consultation was being conducted in Leominster and alleges she was told: “Leominster is a really good spot as they can get more people to sign than they could in the areas where the turbines are going to be.”
Letters of support have been submitted to Herefordshire Council as a result of setting up an information point in Leominster on June 5 and 6, where a range of photo-montages and maps of the proposed site were displayed.
Replying to accusations that the Stonewall Hill application could lead to a local “gold rush”, Bolsterstone plc’s development manager Mike Corker told the Journal that it would not set a precedent.
“Every application is a separate application and is judged on its merits,” he said.
“Because of the ‘cumulative visual impact’ it would be difficult to come up with a case for having turbines in another part of the valley.”
Mr Corker added: “One small wind farm can actually be protective to the landscape view.”
Very unlikely
He said that due to the very limited grid connection, it was very unlikely that further developments would be in the pipeline.
On the question of why an information point was set up in Leominster, Mr Corker said: “We did go to Knighton and Presteigne but there weren’t many people about, so by going to Leominster we picked up more people.
“A stall gave environmental information plus photo montages and people came to look at that information.”
A Herefordshire Council spokeswoman said the authority has received 1,500 letters both for and against the plans.
She confirmed that the matter would not be coming up until the main planning committee meeting on November 14.
3 September 2008
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