October 16, 2010
England

Wind farm plans condemned by MP

Pocklington Post, www.pocklingtonpost.co.uk 15 October 2010

Planning permission has already been granted for the company to erect 16 turbines on Goole Fields and now a consultation document has been put forward with a view to 20 turbines being built on neighbouring land.

While Goole Town Council has approved the proposals put forward in the scoping document – which sets out what RWE will do towards an environmental impact assessment prior to submitting a planning application to East Riding Council – Swinefleet Parish Council has firmly objected.

Swinefleet Council Vice Chair, Carole Mowton, said: “We are worried we are going to be surrounded by nothing else but wind turbines.

“We are also worried about the heavy traffic we will have to endure during the construction process. The villagers just can’t stand any more. They already have a lot of heavy vehicles delivering to local farms and we would be looking at thousands of trips to and from the windfarm site.”

Meanwhile MP Andrew Percy told The Courier he was outraged by the RWE proposal.

“It is unacceptable. We have had our fair share of windfarms in the area – all local residents are going to see is wind turbines from every angle and enough is now enough.”

He said the Government was currently in the process of making it easier in the future for residents to object to plans for windfarms. “We have inherited a weak planning system from Labour which makes it hard for current objectors but we are going to sort that out,” he said.

RWE confirmed it was investigating the potential for a wind farm on a site about 2km south of Old Goole. The company said the site boundary covered an area of around 4.4 square kilometers and lay immediately to the west of the consented Goole Fields Wind Farm.

Ceri McGrath, Project Manager from RWE npower renewables, said: “Each and every potential wind farm site is different and there are always a host of issues to be considered. As such we undertake feasibility assessments which include assessing potential noise, ecology studies, landscape and hydrology impacts.

“We also take the time to speak to and listen to local residents. We will be issuing an informative newsletter to local residents within a 5km radius of the proposed site within the next month and we are also hosting public exhibitions in November, venues and dates for which will be confirmed later.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/10/16/wind-farm-plans-condemned-by-mp/