August 18, 2011
England

Windfarm firm wants to change plan on covering tracks

North Devon Journal, www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk 18 August 2011

The reinstatement of land at Fullabrook Wind Farm may not happen as originally planned.

ESB International, which owns the site, originally said it would cover access tracks to the turbines with soil.

But now it wants to change this, following a review, and has applied for a variation in its planning agreement.

An ESB spokesman said: “We recently carried out a design safety review to consider the post-construction stage of the Fullabrook Wind Farm project.

“The access tracks are required for heavy equipment that may need to be brought on to the wind farm site during future maintenance and have to provide a firm base to enable equipment to be moved around the site safely.

“We have, however, taken into consideration the fact that there are certain views in to the wind farm site from public highways and rights of way that need to be protected.

“Our application for a variation of the planning condition therefore proposes that in these sensitive areas we introduce a central grassed area to minimise the visual impact of the access tracks.”

The decision on whether to allow this variation has been delegated by the district council which hopes to issue the response before September 30.

However, ESB has confirmed that as the site is not permanent, and will cease to exist after 25 years, the tracks will be reinstated entirely at that point.

There has also been an application from ESB to erect signs outlining the site’s health and safety requirements. A spokesman said the signs were to guide technicians and visiting members of the public.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/18/windfarm-firm-wants-to-change-plan-on-covering-tracks/