April 5, 2009
England

Near riot as air heated over wind farm plans

South Yorkshire Times, www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk 15 April 2009

A near-riot resulted in closure of a Barnsley Council planning meeting, as tempers rose over another proposed wind farm near Penistone at Crow Edge.

The bust-up between councillors was over the Labour voting that saw the three turbine wind farm at Blackstone Edge given the green light, subject to approval from the Secretary of State.

One Wombwell area councillor said: “There was an angry, heated argument and the meeting had to be abandoned while people calmed down.”

There was a split vote as 11 councillors voted in favour of the scheme,

while the same number were against it.

Standing chair, councillor Dorothy Higginbottom, had the deciding vote and green-lighted the plans.

The controversial application was for turbines that will effectively be two thirds the height of Blackpool Tower, at land between Browns Road and Whitley Road.

Protesters from the Crow Edge community have said the latest turbines in this third application (13 turbines were the first group to be placed at Royds Moor) will see them surrounded by a turbine jungle. But their fears failed to sway Barnsley planners.

Opposed

Previously, the rural residents unsuccessfully opposed another scheme which was given the go-ahead by Barnsley planners.

That was despite almost 500 letters of objection and an admission from the Council that the turbines would be visible for miles around.

Landscape

Earlier plans for turbines on the site had, in fact, been turned down by the council and a Government inspector as unsuitable because of their impact on the landscape.

A spokeswoman for Barnsley Council said only that: “The planning application for the erection of a three turbine wind farm at Blackstone Edge, Crow Edge was discussed in detail by the members of the Planning Board at their meeting on 7 April. A vote was taken and the application was recommended for approval subject to referral to the Secretary of State.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2009/04/05/near-riot-as-air-heated-over-wind-farm-plans/