April 2, 2011
England

Wind turbine scheme: Planning chiefs vote ‘No’

By Jim Durkin, Dorset Echo, www.dorsetecho.co.uk 1 April 2011By Jim Durkin, Dorset Echo, www.dorsetecho.co.uk 1 April 2011

Planning chiefs have dramatically ruled against a proposed £14m wind farm that would have changed the Dorset landscape for generations.

Members of Purbeck District Council’s planning board had already agreed they were ‘minded to grant consent’ for the four-turbine farm at Master’s Quarry, East Stoke.

But yesterday the board met again to debate a list of strict conditions – including noise restrictions on the 125-metre turbines – that had been laid down by the council to green energy company Infinergy.

After this highly-charged meeting, attended by around 200 residents at Furzebrook Village Hall, members voted against the proposal.

Geoff Edwardes, president of Dorset Against Rural Turbines, said: “This is a victory, but I fully expect it won’t be the end of things.

“We are in no doubt that Infinergy will wish to appeal, which is entirely their right. But we will fight this as well.

“So, yes, it is a great victory, it is a wonderful victory, but we are not just going to sit on our hands because things could go a lot further.” Earlier in the meeting more than 30 people spoke for and against the wind farm.

Tania Kaplan, of Purbeck Environment Action Team, said: “We need to change the way we generate energy in Dorset.

“This site is well chosen, being one of the few potential sites in Purbeck.

“My own children cannot understand that, on the one hand, they are being taught at school all about climate change and the need for renewable energy, then, on the other hand, grown-ups are trying to stop this wind farm from being produced based on appearance.”

However, Terry Stewart, chairman of Purbeck Campaign to Protect Rural England – who was fiercely opposed to the farm – insisted it was the ‘noise impact of these turbines on the nearby Scout campsite that was arguably the most important objection.’ A spokesman for Infinergy, the company behind the proposals, said they were hugely disappointed with the council ruling.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/04/02/wind-turbine-scheme-planning-chiefs-vote-no/