October 22, 2011
England

Residents to stage gale force protest

Pontefract & Castleford Express, www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk 22 October 2011

Defiant residents will be out in force today to protest against plans to build an eight-turbine wind farm near Cridling Stubbs.

The Cridling Stubbs and Womersley Wind Farm Action Group – which is objecting to Waste Recyling Group’s (WRG) plan for the development on the Darrington Quarry site – will fly a blimp near the position of one of the proposed turbines when North Yorkshire County Council planning chiefs visit the site this morning (October 20).

The group says the blimp will show the visual affect of turbines on the area.

Dr Robert Klaasen, action group chairman, said: “If you want to see what a 125m turbine is going to look like you have to show them something that is 125m high. We want to stress how strongly we feel about this.”

Residents will also march through Womersley, accompanied by Selby councillor Gillian Ivey, who is supporting the action group.

Coun Ivey said: “I know people in the area don’t want this wind farm and although it is slightly disappointing we will not get the opportunity to talk to the planning committee I hope they will get the chance to drive around and see the blimp.”

A spokeswoman for Waste Recycling Group – which provided residents with seven photomontages of the turbines during the public consultation period – said: “WRG is looking forward to hosting a visit of the North Yorkshire County Council planning committee at the Darrington Quarry site to enable council members to understand the context of the site and its surroundings.

“WRG did explore the possibility of erecting helium blimps, but they do not provide an accurate representation of the location and height of the proposed turbines, because the wind is constantly carrying them to different places.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/22/residents-to-stage-gale-force-protest/