June 20, 2008
England

Loggerheads council joins wind farm fight

Loggerheads parish councillors have followed their counterparts in Norton-in-Hales by voting overwhelmingly against plans to build a wind farm in the area.

Residents voiced their opposition to plans by Nuon Renewables to put up seven wind turbines in Poplar Lane, Bearstone at a public meeting earlier this month.

The meeting at Knighton Village Hall was called after Loggerheads Parish Council received plans for the proposed site, with access to be set up along the B5026 London Road near Knighton.

The parish council’s objection to the wind farm is supported by Staffordshire MP, Bill Cash.

“I have made strong representations to the local authority opposing this application,” he said.

“I introduced my own debate on UK energy policy in Parliament last year in which I set out the failings of wind energy on grounds of cost, reliability and efficiency.

“The Minister for Energy has even admitted to me in a letter that the Midlands is not an area with a strong wind resource, compared to other areas of the UK.

“These turbines will also interfere with helicopter training at RAF Shawbury which is unacceptable.”

The Vortex (Veto on Rural Turbine Expansion) action group made a presentation to the meeting in which they set out their objections.
These included health and safety, noise pollution and the visual impact that seven, 110m high wind turbines would have on the area.

“There is absolutely nothing that Nuon can do to mitigate for the huge visual impact that seven, 110m wind turbines will have,” said Terry May, coordinator of Vortex.

Parish councillors fear that the access site would “create dramatic road works in Knighton” which had not been taken into consideration by Nuon.

Their views are to be put forward to Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council following the meeting.

Winston Brown

Market Drayton Advertiser

20 June 2008


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/06/20/loggerheads-council-joins-wind-farm-fight/