Wind farm fury mounts
Hundreds of concerned residents crowded into a meeting about controversial plans for a windfarm on greenbelt land near Stone.
Severn Trent Water staged a public exhibition at Aston Village Hall on Saturday to showcase its proposals to install three wind turbines at Aston Hall Farm, between Aston-by-Stone and Burston.
But protesters put up posters on the opposite side of the room and set up a stand outside — with the permission of Severn Trent Water — and collected more than 300 names on a petition against the plan.
Bill Cash MP also gave a speech inside the hall voicing his objections to the development.
Protester Paul Shaw, of Burston Villa Farm, said: “I would say that 98 per cent of people who went along on Saturday don’t want these turbines. We got over 300 signatures on our petition, which we will be submitting to the borough council when a planning application is submitted. The next step is to form an action group.”
Stone Rural Parish Councillor Bryan Fletcher said: “The main concerns that people wanted to discuss were the noise issue and the problem of house blight. Even though an application has not yet been put in, it is already blighting property values. Severn Trent Water would not answer questions about that though.”
Vice chairman of Sandon and Burston Parish Council, Tony Jackson, said: “There was a really good turn-out. Severn Trent Water were very professional in their exhibition but I wasn’t convinced by their arguments.
Protesters have set up a website to keep people updated about the plans and their campaign, at www.burstonwind.co.uk There is also an email address for queries: burstonwind@live.co.uk
Sophie Jordan, of Severn Trent Water, said some residents had spoken in support of their plans. “Severn Trent Water wanted to communicate to as many local people why we must invest in renewable energy.”
“Understandably, many residents’ main concerns related to noise and the impact on the local environment. Our investigations to assess whether
this site is suitable are still in the very early stages and over the next six to 12 months we will be collecting more information to address these concerns. Should this site prove viable, we will organise another public exhibition in 2010 prior to finalising our proposals.”
By Liz Pegg
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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