June 9, 2007
U.K.
U.K.
Councillors on Whitworth Town Council have unanimously said no to the proposed wind farm at Reaps Moss, Bacup.
Although the final decision will rest with Rossendale Council, Whitworth, as a consultee, will recommend that the wind farm be turned down.
Coronation Power’s proposed wind farm would be visible from the Shawforth area of Whitworth and protesters have welcomed the town council’s decision, made at the General Purposes committee meeting on Thursday, as “excellent news”.
Denise McGowan, spokesperson for the Friends of the South Pennines Action Group, who spoke against the wind farm at the meeting said afterwards: “It was a unanimous decision to reject on the ground of environmental issues.
“The area is on a peat bog and building on this can release a lot of carbon dioxide. It could also cause environmental damage to the habitats of animals that live, feed and hunt on the moor.”
Mrs McGowan, of Bacup, said there were regularly around 50 protesters attending group meetings and the turbines would also create problems with the water table and would have a massive visual impact.
She said: “People are concerned about the number of these developments which are popping up in the area.
“People need to understand what an impact it will have on their lives.”
Whitworth town councillor David Barnes, who also spoke against the wind farm at the meeting, said afterwards that he felt that he felt the wind farms destroyed the natural environment rather than protected it. He said: “It would destroy the beauty of the scenery and it will affect walkers and I think it will destroy the ecological equilibrium of the area too.”
Nobody from Coronation Power attended the meeting.
The Reaps Moss wind farm planning application is expected to be heard by Rossendale Council in July.
By Kelly Livesey
9 June 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/06/09/wind-taken-out-of-planners-sails/