October 2, 2006
U.K.
U.K.
Swathes of countryside in the Harborough area have been earmarked by an Irish developer for 100-metre-tall wind turbines.
The Airtricity firm wants to build wind farms on 38 sites in the UK, two of which are in the Harborough district around Kibworth and the Langtons.
The first plot runs from the Carlton Curlieu and Shangton villages in the north, down into Kibworth and Tur Langton. Part of the land is the former site of Kibworth Rifle Range.
The second boundary is kidney-shaped and runs from Burton Overy down into Kibworth Harcourt.
The land is owned or worked on by different farmers.
Airtricity has put up a number of wind farms in Scotland and Ireland, and built the 100-metre-tall wind turbines which can be seen from the A14 at Burton Latimer, Northants.
Rod Edwards, director of Dulas Ltd which acts as agent for Airtricity, said: “All I can say at this stage is that we are looking at 38 potential sites across England for wind farms. We will be looking at planning issues and seeing if landowners are interested. We really don’t know at this stage how many wind turbines there would be on these sites. The height would probably be near 100 metres to the top of the blade.”
Farmer Charles Stops, who works land on the Burton Overy side, said: “We haven’t received a map, a letter or anything. This is the first I’ve heard of it, it’s terrible.”
He said the land is owned by Merton College, Oxford, and he holds a lifelong tenancy on the land.
Dr Kevin Feltham, Leicestershire County Council’s ward member for Kibworth and who lives near the proposed sites, said: “I find it extraordinary that no-one has been informed. Why should the public be the last to know? This could have a huge impact on people’s visual amenity.”
Tur Langton Parish Council chairman Simon Getliffe said: “We have not been approached or received any information about wind farms.”
Kibworth Harcourt resident Beverley Burdett, who campaigned against phone masts being put up in Kibworth, said: “Here we go again. There’s always something else, it’s never ending. This will be another blight on the landscape.”
Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, the independent Government advisory body on sustainable development, said: “Climate change will have a devastating impact unless urgent action is taken to boost the contribution of renewables, alongside energy efficiency measures.
“We believe wind power is a critically important part of the overall energy mix.”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/10/02/wind-farms-on-the-horizon/