Plea to think again over windfarm plans on Reeves Hill  

Credit:  By Paul Broome, Hereford Times, www.herefordtimes.com 13 September 2011 ~~

A group opposed to plans for four wind turbines on Herefordshire’s Welsh border says planners should look at the whole scheme again.

Councillors are expected to meet again later this month to discuss the application for a 300ft high wind farm on Reeves Hill near Presteigne.

The application was submitted by Bolsterstone Innovative Energy more than three years ago and was initially earmarked for referral to the secretary of state before a call-in was dropped, leaving the local authority to make its own decision.

But ahead of a meeting on September 14 an opposition group says councillors should rethink the idea despite being ‘minded to approve’ the plans back in February 2009.

“The damage far outweighs any benefits,” said campaigner Stephen Hugh-Jones of the Stonewall Hill Conservation Group.

“The scheme should be rejected because since February 2009 the public has begun to realise just what a swindle wind power turns out to be.

“A few landowners reap handsome rewards for ruining our countryside and their profits are charged to our electricity bills.

“And all this for a technology that cannot possibly deliver the goods.”

The application has divided opinion with more than 50 protesters gathering outside Hereford Shirehall ahead of the 2009 meeting.