February 19, 2011
England

Awsworth fights plan for turbine

Ilkeston Advertiser, www.ilkestonadvertiser.co.uk 19 February 2011

Leaflets will drop through the doors of Awsworth residents later this week thanks to a group determined not to see a 430ft wind turbine built in Giltbrook.

Phil Streets, of Barlow Drive North, has told the Advertiser the group of residents want to make sure people in the area know about Severn Trent’s plan to erect the turbine at their sewage treatment works.

He said: “Our number one concern is health, because the turbine will be so close to so many people and there are health concerns highlighted by medical professionals.

“Our second main concern is the visual impact, this turbine will be seen for miles. “There are other problems too – wildlife, noise, property prices.

“We just want people to know they can have their say on this issue.”

People from Awsworth attended a meeting in Kimberley last week about the plans.

They said the wind turbine – proposed for greenbelt land in the Erewash Valley off Halls Lane in Giltbrook – would be as good as ‘in their back gardens’.

Severn Trent took a noise monitor along to the meeting that showed that the small meeting room at the Hub Café in Newdigate Street generated more noise than the wind turbine would.

And Kimberley councillor Richard Robinson, who chaired the meeting, backed the plans.

He said the long term benefits of renewable energy outweighed the ‘loss of visual amenity’.

He warned that a wildlife assessment should be carried out and if shadow flicker had an effect on nearby homes the operation of the wind turbine should be suspended.

The wind turbine will be 600m away from the nearest house.

The decision will be made at a Broxtowe Borough Council meeting in May.

To view the planning application go to www.broxtowe.gov.uk or contact the council on 0115 9173709.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/19/awsworth-fights-plan-for-turbine/