October 24, 2011
England

Protesters celebrate wind farm rejection

Daventry Express, www.daventryexpress.co.uk 23 October 2011

Villagers have welcomed news that controversial plans for a wind farm in Lilbourne have been rejected.

More than 50 protesters gathered outside the Daventry District Council offices during the planning meeting last Wednesday.

Cheers were heard from the waiting crowd when plans by developers Hemex to build six 125-metre turbines at Lilbourne Fields Farm and Lilbourne Lodge Farm were turned down.

There has been plenty of relief for people living in the village who were worried the turbines could have had a devastating effect on their area.

Chairman of Lilbourne Parish Council Tony Lamb said: “The first reaction is that we are very pleased the decision has come out in our favour.

“There has been a lot of hard work put in by the Lilbourne Action Group Against the Wind Farm who have organised petitions and spearheaded the campaign.

“There was 93 per cent of the people in the village who signed a petition against the plans.

“There is a lot of relief from people who were obviously anxious.”

Members of the planning committee made the decision to turn it down as the turbines would have been too close to All Saints Church in Lilbourne as well as to homes.

However the relief about the decision has been tempered by worries that they may still have to fight against the plans.

The leader of the action group Roald Evans said: “We are thoroughly pleased but I do not think we are out of the woods yet. We are very worried there might be an appeal from the developers and that could go to a public inquiry. But we would be reasonably confident that we have got a strong case for the wind farm to be dismissed if it went to appeal. One of the previous public inquiries saw a wind farm rejected because the plans were too close to people’s houses.

No one from Hemex was available for comment.

l Meanwhile in Long Buckby, plans for two 71-metre wind turbines were given planning permission in the village.

The turbines will be built at White Barn Farm in Station Road, and were approved by the committee despite complaints from the residents and the parish council.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/24/protesters-celebrate-wind-farm-rejection/