February 14, 2011
England

Campaigners herald wind farm fight milestone

Uttoxeter Post & Times, www.thisisuttoxeter.co.uk 14 February 2011

A campaign against controversial plans to develop a wind farm in rural Staffordshire has entered a “critical phase”.

West Midlands MEP Mike Natrass says South Staffordshire Council’s decision to refuse the installation of a temporary, 200ft wind monitoring mast near Church Eaton is a major milestone in the long-running STAG (Stop Turbines Action Group) campaign.

In November, 2009 Mr Natrass met with STAG representatives at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Since then he has repeatedly called on South Staffordshire Council to ‘do the right thing’, listen to residents’ concerns and protect the environment.

Now, the MEP hopes the decision to reject the plans will add impetus to the campaign against Wind Prospect’s proposals to install six 450ft wind turbines in Brineton.

He said: “It has been a long, hard fight and now it appears the campaign may have entered a critical phase with the council’s refusal of the monitoring mast application.

“A battle has been won but not the war. Members of South Staffordshire Council are set to meet next month to discuss the full planning application.

“Looking at this from the economic perspective, if you take away the subsidy, wind farms are simply not viable.

“Inefficient wind farms are also a poor way to harness energy, and we should divert investment into clean coal.”

Tony Lendon, chairman of King Street STAG, said: “Now the battle moves on to the full planning application for the six turbine wind power station.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/14/campaigners-herald-wind-farm-fight-milestone/