January 8, 2007
U.K.
U.K.
Developers behind plans to build a wind farm in north Northumberland are hopeful the application will be determined later this month.
Your Energy, which is seeking permission for the development at Moorsyde, near Berwick, is confident the scheme will be discussed at Berwick Borough Council’s planning committee meeting on Tuesday, January 30.
The application for a ten-turbine plant was due to be discussed last month but was deferred after legal representations from Moorsyde Action Group (MAG).
Richard Mardon, managing director of Your Energy, said: “A large part of the “˜legal issue’ seem to revolve around “procedural shortcomings” of the council but we are confident that all was in order.
“We wrote to the council on July 31 outlining the reduction in turbines from 14 to ten and included new environmental information. News of this development was widely reported.
“This new information has been on the planning file since then and has formed the basis of discussions with key consultees since July. We feel that there has been perfectly adequate advertising and consultation.”
He added: “Now the decision has been delayed for six weeks, to avoid the risk of further delay due to legal technicalities, we have decided to publish the information again and mail out copies of the key environmental information to all consultees.
“This will be completed before the planning committee meeting scheduled for January 30.”
A MAG spokesman claimed the company was trying to force the application to committee before a study into wind capacity in north Northumberland is published.
He added: “In our opinion, the reason is clear: Your Energy is unwilling to have its scheme judged according to the findings of a thorough, scientific landscape appraisal.
He added: “Local people think that a proper appraisal of our landscape and the impacts of multiple wind farm applications on it and the local tourist economy is far more important than satisfying the narrow commercial interests of a single speculative development company.”
A spokeswoman for the borough council said the application was expected to be discussed on January 30.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/01/08/decision-day-looms-for-wind-farm-plan/