September 6, 2011
England

Wind turbine plan rejected by village

Richard Young, The Comet, www.thecomet.net 6 September 2011

A plan to erect a 284ft wind turbine in Benington has been rejected by the majority of residents.

Results to be announced tomorrow night (Wednesday) at a Benington Parish Council meeting show two-thirds of those who voted on a scheme to install a turbine to feed electricity into the national grid are against it.

Of the 485 villagers (73 per cent) who returned their voting papers, 334 were against, 142 in favour and 9 neutral.

The parish council will now write to East Herts Council to officially oppose the application on land by High Elms Lane.

The vote is a blow to farmer Andrew Bott who submitted the scheme after three taller structures were rejected by a planning inspector last year, but said it was not entirely unexpected.

“The whole village has been worked over for five years,” he said. “It’s 334 against – it’s about half the village population, which is not an absolute disaster. Half the village are not bothered one way or the other.

“A vote on the last plan showed 352 were against and 80 were for. We have increased our positive vote. I think that they realise that the impact is very minimal. They think it’s a good idea because hopefully the electricity will supply Benington.”

The application is due to be discussed by the East Herts Council planning committee on October 12.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/09/06/wind-turbine-plan-rejected-by-village/