Ministry of Defence objects to Bullamoor wind turbines
DARLINGTON, UK: Residents fighting plans to build a wind farm have claimed a key victory in their campaign after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) lodged an official objection to the scheme.
In a letter to planners at Hambleton District Council, the MoD said building four 125m turbines on land at Bullamoor, near Northallerton, would introduce an “unnecessary and avoidable air safety hazard” to the area because of their size, and their impact on radar systems.
Jon Wilson, assistant head of safeguarding for Defence Estates, said that the turbines would cause “unmanageable interference” to primary surveillance radar at RAF Leeming.
Leeming is the base for Hawk aircraft used primarily for the RAF’s fast jet training.
Mr Wilson said: “Radar operators will be unable to distinguish between a genuine radar return from a moving aircraft and the rotating turbine blades.
“The radar returns created by these turbines will generate “clutter” on radar operator’s screens which will obscure aircraft flying in the vicinity of the turbines.
“The erection of structures 125m above ground level at this location will cause a physical obstruction to the critical airspace encompassing RAF Leeming within which all take-off and landing procedures are conducted.
“The proposed turbines will infringe this critical airspace by between 36m and 44m and will therefore cause a serious obstruction to the safe movement of aircraft.”
He concluded: “The development of the wind farm proposed at this location will introduce an unnecessary and avoidable air safety hazard that will cause an obstruction hazard to air traffic procedures, potentially inhibiting the safe use of RAF Leeming, and will also degrade the safety of both civilian and military aircraft in this area.”
But Dan Grierson, of Novera Energy, said the company would be having talks with the MoD in the next few weeks, and that he was confident that mitigation measures could be agreed.
However, he admitted: “If at the end of the day if an MoD objection that can’t be addressed is made, we may well not be able to build the scheme ormay have to reduce the scale.”
Hugh Renwick, chairman of Bullamoor Windfarm Action Group, said: “Safety must overrule all other considerations and the MoD has stated that this is compromised on two counts: radar interference and physical protrusion into airspace.
“It would probably be negligent to ignore these concerns.”
An application for a temporary weather monitoring mast on the site is due to go before Hambleton’s planning committee today.
The full application for the turbines will be debated in April.
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5 March 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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