March 14, 2008
England
England
Plans by Tesco to erect a wind turbine in the car park of its Beverley site to help power the store look set to be turned down.
An application by the retail giant to erect a 10.6m high turbine at Morton Lane will be considered at next Monday’s meeting of East Riding Council eastern area planning committee.
Tesco is seeking permission to erect similar turbines at several of its stores and depots across the UK with the aim of feeding the renewable electricity they produce directly into the store and cutting their use of conventionally-produced electricity.
A number of nearby residents have objected to the proposed turbine at the Beverley store, which is also opposed by Beverley Town Council, conservationists and Beverley Civic Society.
Objectors claim the turbine is out of keeping with the residential location, would spoil views within the town’s conservation area and could be a magnet for youths causing anti-social behaviour.
Doubts are also raised about the energy output which the turbine could achieve because of surrounding buildings.
But Tesco says the location was chosen to benefit from the on-site wind resource and the turbine will benefit the environment while reducing energy costs for the store.
In a report to the committee, the council’s planning officers are recommending that the application be refused.
Although they say the council would not wish to discourage applications and positively encourages carbon-reducing developments, it is considered in this instance that the negative impact on both surrounding views and the conservation area would far outweigh the overall benefits.
14 March 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/03/14/tesco-wind-turbine-plea/