April 30, 2008
England
England
Green power company Enertrag UK has submitted a planning application to develop a windfarm in the south Norfolk village of Hempnall, provoking fury from local objectors who have been fighting the proposals for months.
The Diss-based company is seeking consent for seven 130m high turbines on land at Bussey’s Loke that would supply the National Grid with enough renewable energy to power 10,000 homes annually.
But the project is highly controversial, with hundreds of protestors voicing their concerns at public meetings to discuss the proposals when the plans were first unveiled last year.
Enertrag has been criticised by Hempnall residents for not taking part in the public debate. But company spokesman David Linley, who is managing the project, said it has consulted widely both at local level and with statutory bodies to find out the issues and concerns that will need to be addressed.
However, South Norfolk Council looks set to receive scores of letters from worried residents who claim the rural community near Norwich is not a suitable location for a wind farm whose turbines would be higher than the city’s cathedral.
Geoff Moulton, chairman of action group Showt (Stop Hempnall’s Onshore Wind Turbines), yesterday issued a statement on behalf of the “many hundreds of residents from villages surrounding the Hempnall area” who strongly oppose the scheme.
It said: “Enertrag’s proposed development will create a huge visual and environmental impact on Hempnall and all other surrounding villages such as Topcroft, Saxlingham, Shotesham and Woodton.”
30 April 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/04/30/village-fights-windfarm-plan/