January 9, 2007
U.K.
U.K.
Concerned residents said a resounding “˜no’ to plans for a windfarm at Pica in west Cumbria at a heated meeting last night.
Seventy people packed into Distington Community Centre to discuss a proposal by Bristol-based Wind Prospect Ltd to build five turbines at Fairfield Farm.
The site has been the subject of applications for more than 10 years and has always received opposition from villagers and councillors.
The two-hour meeting saw fierce criticism of Wind Prospect, whose bosses refused to show up, and the site owner.
County councillor Tim Knowles said the plan was the “thin end of the wedge”.
He added: “If we can protect the Lake District from having these things built, why can’t we protect the area around it?
“If this goes ahead, the message will go to London to put as many turbines as they want in Copeland because no-one is bothered.
“We don’t want to go the same way that Allerdale foolishly has by allowing these turbines and seeing them proliferate.”
Frank Morgan, of Distington, said: “We have being trying to get rid of industrial blight for the last 20 years and we are just starting to get the area back to how it should be.
“This would ruin it.”
Julie Lynn, of Pica Road, whose house backs on to the site, said: “This is just the tip of the iceberg, if we allow this plan to go through five turbines will soon become 30 or 40. Wind turbines are not even efficient, we are going the wrong way.
“The only green thing about them is the colour of the money made by the developers and the landowners,” she said.
Copeland mayor Willis Metherell told the meeting an action group had been formed to fight the proposal. She criticised Wind Prospect for not keeping residents informed. She said leaflets outlining the proposals had only been delivered to Harrington and not Pica and Distington which will be more affected.
A handful of people were in favour of the plan.
One man said people were burying their heads in the sand over global warming and that Britain should be setting an example.
In a show of hands, 55 people voted against the proposal and 10 were in favour. The results will be sent to Copeland Council who will make the final decision on whether the plan gets the go-ahead.
Published on 9 January 2007
By Matthew Legg
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/01/09/villagers-say-no-to-windfarm-plan/