November 26, 2007
England

Windfarm battle

Residents from a west Cumbrian village are planning to campaign against proposals for a new windfarm.

Villagers in Arlecdon and Moresby Moss have attended meetings by a development company wanting to build a windfarm in the area.

The scheme is likely to include between 15 and 20 turbines with hub heights of around 60 metres on land around the Moresby Moss and Keekle Head.

But residents say it is three- quarters of a mile from them and they will fight the proposals.

Derek Gilpin, who owns a shop on Arlecdon Road, said villagers would be rallying around to get more information about the effects of windfarms and what they can do to oppose the plans. He said: “Everyone who I spoke to was 100 per cent against it. I have not found anyone for it. They are a blot on the landscape and they don’t work for the small amount they put in.

“Everyone is against them here. If they go up they are likely to be on the crest of the hill at Moresby Moss. We will be able to see them from our house. It will be about three- quarters of a mile away.

“The meeting was the company’s way of trying to sell them to people. Local people have been meeting with scientists to get more information.”

Rob Williams, renewables projects director at Banks Developments, said: “How the energy that we use is generated and utilised is one of the most important issues facing everyone in the 21st century.

“We believe that the Moresby Moss scheme could make a very positive local contribution to meeting this challenge. It could generate enough energy for around two-thirds of all the homes in Copeland without producing any harmful greenhouse gases, and would help deliver the county’s renewable energy target up to the end of the decade.

“We work closely with communities in and around all our operations, and before preparing a detailed design for this scheme, we will take in to account comments from the community and statutory consultees.”

He added: “We’re proposing that the community would share the benefits of the wind farm with the establishment of a fund to support projects that would benefit the local community.

“The company is currently planning to promote the enhancement of a large area of natural interest in the Keekle Valley which would be developed and managed through funding from the wind farm, but it is also open to ideas from local people on community schemes which they might like to see such funding used for.”

They hope to lodge applications with Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils in Spring 2008.

For more information about the proposals, contact Bob Swainson or Rob Williams at Banks Developments on 01740 658500 or e-mail moresbymoss@banksdevelopments.com

Published on 26/11/2007

By Safira Ali

newsandstar.co.uk


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/11/26/windfarm-battle/