Wind turbine a ‘test case battle’
Controversial plans for a 200 foot wind turbine test mast at Aston By Stone have been endorsed by council officers.
Severn Trent Water’s proposal for a temporary wind monitoring mast at Aston Hall Farm will go before Stafford Borough Council’s development control committee on Wednesday.
Planning officers have recommended the application be allowed but protesters will be turning out in force to the meeting in a bid to persuade councillors to throw them out. Burston resident Paul Shaw, chairman of STOP (Stone and Trent Valley Opposed to Severn Trent Water), will be representing the campaigners and will speak for three minutes against the application.
He said: “The planning officer is saying that you can’t link the wind monitoring mast to the eventual plan for three wind turbines at the site, but it is a bit naive to think they would put a test mast up and this would not lead to turbines.
“Taking the test mast on its own, we have put forward a case with 49 reasons why it should not be allowed. It will be the tallest thing in view all around. It will have 42 metre guy ropes around it and they will be putting deflectors on it to scare away birds, so it will have a big visual impact.
“This is a big test case. If the committee approve this then the whole of the Trent Valley could be full of them soon.” Councillor Doug Davis, cabinet member for planning and regeneration, will be calling in the application.
He said: “I will be speaking very strongly against the application because I believe it is totally unsuitable, in a completely wrong location, and an intrusion into the countryside.
According to the planning report, the mast will measure 60 metres, or 196 feet, and will be made of tubular steel with a diameter of between 152mm and 219mm. Guy wires will be spaced at 35m and 42m from the mast’s base and it is envisaged that bird deflectors would be attached to the wires.
The planning report says that an application for wind turbines on the site may not follow.
It also concludes that due to the structure’s “slenderness”, “the proposal would not represent an unduly dominant feature and would, therefore, have a limited, non-harmful impact on the character and appearance of the landscape”.
The council received 211 representations from residents about the application, and a 250 signature petition from STOP. Bill Cash MP, Stone Rural Parish Council and Sandon and Burston Parish Council have also objected.
By Liz Pegg
Staffordshire Newsletter
www.staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk
12 November 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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