| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Go-ahead for wind farm substation
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Campaigners hoping to stop a wind farm substation being built in their village have all but conceded defeat following government approval of the scheme.
The development is part of the £1.5bn London Array project, for 341 turbines in the sea between Kent and Essex.
Swale Borough Council had refused planning permission for the substation, at Cleve Hill, in Graveney, north Kent.
But the wind farm developer appealed and the government has now supported a planning inspector’s recommendation.
David Jeffrey, from the Graveney Rural Environment Action Team, said: “There is probably very little manoeuvre in taking the fight any further, but we are waiting to hear from our solicitor.
“The only reason that we could continue is if there was a legal reason in the planning process.”
The campaigners have always said Cleve Hill, in a designated Special Landscape Area, was an unsuitable location for the onshore electricity substation because of potential environmental and congestion problems.
Swale council’s original refusal in June 2006 was based on it being a “bog-standard substation in a protected landscape for what’s supposed to be a beacon of renewable energy for the future”.
Planning officer Graham Thomas added: “We didn’t oppose the principle of the substation, we’re fully behind renewable energy and indeed the project as a whole, but we felt they’d come up with a very crude proposal.”
Mr Thomas said London Array had been asked to come up with new designs which successfully went through a public inquiry.
A statement from the developers said the government decision for the onshore substation was a “major milestone” for the scheme.
The wind farm’s turbines will cover a 90 sq-mile (232 sq-km) area between Margate in Kent and Clacton, Essex.
30 August 2007
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=6685 ]
