LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME


[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]

Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

Get weekly updates
RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Anger as wind farms given the go-ahead 

Two huge wind farms have been given the go-ahead by the Government, to the anger of countryside campaigners and the delight of environmental pressure groups.

Applications for the turbines at Tween Bridge on Thorne Moors, near Doncaster, and at nearby Keadby, near Scunthorpe, were officially approved by Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks yesterday.

The Keadby scheme will involve 39 turbines, each 300ft high, while the Thorne scheme will have 22. It has been claimed they will produce enough electricity to power 65,500 homes.

Mr Wicks said the move would be good for Britain, and his decision was supported by Friends of the Earth, which gave evidence at a public inquiry into the wind farm schemes in early 2007.

But the Council to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and local campaigners attacked the decision, while people who will live in the shadow of the turbines spoke of their disbelief.

David Patterson, who lives in Keadby, and was secretary of a pressure group which opposed the schemes at the inquiry said: “This decision is absolutely appalling.

“It just shows the utter contempt the Government and Ministers have for the democratic voice of people who have voted and campaigned against this thing going ahead.

“I have several objections, and have done a great deal of research and compiled a policy document for the public inquiry. These turbines will have a massive negative impact both on people and the environment.

“Each one will need a huge concrete base, and this could affect drainage in this low-lying countryside. What will the Government do when this whole area has flooded?”

Mr Patterson added: “There are also health and house price issues. These things are going to be three times the size of the present pylons. There is no joined-up thinking where this Government is involved.”

The head of planning at the South Yorkshire branch of the CPRE, Andy Tickle, said the decision would wreck the Humberhead peatlands around Thorne and Hatfield, which are unique in Britain.

Mr Tickle added: “This area is a natural treasure house and we are horrified that this proposal has been given Government approval. It is totally undeveloped, but these turbines will wreck that.

“It is a green island for the people of South Yorkshire and a jewel in the crown of nature reserves, but that does not seem to matter to the people who made this decision.”

Objections had been raised by nearby Robin Hood Airport, which was worried about the turbines’ effect on flightpaths, but yesterday a spokesman said alterations had been made which eased their concerns.

The Yorkshire and Humber branch of Friends of the Earth congratulated the Government on its decision to grant planning permission and called for more similar developments.

Regional campaigner Simon Bowens said: “Climate change is the biggest environmental threat our planet faces. We need to ensure that the right solutions are in place to tackle this threat.”

n Plans for an £18m plant in North Yorkshire to turn waste into energy for thousands of homes have been endorsed by the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly.

The proposals for the energy-from-waste plant at Tockwith sparked widespread protest from nearby residents, although developers have attempted to allay pollution fears.

By Martin Slack

Yorkshire Post

3 March 2008

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 Contributions
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook Wind Watch on Linked In

Wind Watch on Mastodon Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky