April 23, 2011
England

Residents hear about university’s wind turbines plan

By Bryan Henesey, Nottingham Post, www.thisisnottingham.co.uk 23 April 2011By Bryan Henesey, Nottingham Post, www.thisisnottingham.co.uk 23 April 2011

Around 130 people attended two public meetings to discuss the University of Nottingham’s plans to build three wind turbines by the River Trent.

The university hosted the meetings before putting in a formal planning application for the site at Grove Farm, near Clifton Bridge.

But some residents criticised the scheme for putting the turbines on their doorstep – without giving them any access to the renewable energy they will create.

All of the power generated by the turbines will be fed directly into the University Park campus, and not into the National Grid.

It is estimated that the nearest property across the river in Clifton would be 440 metres away from the turbines, with homes in Beeston Rylands 660 metres away.

Beeston Rylands resident David Wright said: “I will be the closest person in the Rylands to these turbines and my concern is noise and flicker of sunlight from the blades.”

Another resident asked if there would be other turbines built on the site if the three proposed were approved.

Chris Jagger, chief estates and facilities officer at the university, said: “All the work that we have done has suggested that we can only put three turbines on the site.

“As far as I am concerned, it won’t be the case of using a sprat to catch a mackerel, meaning that if we were to get these we would then try for more.”

The project will cost £10 million and the turbines would produce a third of the electricity that the University Park campus needs.

The university says the turbines could reduce its carbon emissions by 7,000 tonnes a year.

It has spoken to officials at Broxtowe Borough Council and Nottingham City Council about the plans ahead of applying for planning permission.

Around 50 people attended the daytime meeting at Beeston Library on Thursday, including members of the Beeston and Clifton Wind Turbine Awareness Group.

The group opposes the plan because of the size of the turbines and their proximity to houses.

The Beeston meeting followed another debate at Clifton Cornerstone on Wednesday evening which was attended by 80 people.

The majority of residents who spoke at the meeting were against the plan, and raised concerns about the turbines’ impact on noise pollution, health, and property prices.

One man in the audience said: “Turbines are in fashion at the moment, but I’m not convinced that they are economical.”

Speaking after the meetings, Mr Jagger added: “Our intention was really to bring our more detailed information that will form the basis of a formal planning submission to the public’s attention.

“We fully appreciate that the wind turbines are of a scale that will mean that they have a very major impact on the local area.”